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Selectmen cite bigger takings, higher costs for Route 79 project; walk-through set for April 24
Summary
Town of Lakeville selectmen discussed expanded land takings and pole moves tied to a Route 79 redesign, questioned cost estimates as high as several million dollars and scheduled a joint walk-through with state representatives for April 24 at 10 a.m.
Town of Lakeville selectmen spent more than an hour pressing state representatives and consultants for clarity about a planned Route 79 redesign, after hearing estimates that telephone-pole moves and property easements tied to the project have grown substantially. The board scheduled a site walk-through for April 24 at 10 a.m., to review pole locations, sidewalks and potential takings.
The selectmen said the quantity of utility poles under consideration has risen from an initial figure of about 40 to roughly 100, and that the footprint of potential permanent and temporary land takings has expanded from roughly 4,000 square feet to about 9,000 square feet. Meeting participants raised a range of projected costs tied to damages and property impacts, saying examples from other towns suggested damages and related payments could run from about $300,000 for some assessor adjustments to $1.5 million to $2 million for broader claims; one participant described out-of-pocket exposure “as much as $3,000,000.”
Selectmen and others at the meeting said those rising numbers increase the urgency of seeing the proposed layout in person and of clarifying whether design changes — for example adding double sidewalks or flipping the sidewalk from one side of the road to the other — were responsible for the scope increase. The board said it wants to understand whether an earlier option that would have moved about 40 poles remains on the table and why the state now describes about 100 pole moves.
The board asked staff to organize the April 24 on-site review, which the selectmen said will start at the Lakeville Library and include transportation between observation points, a police detail and state representatives. Selectmen also discussed drafting a written statement of concerns to send to the state transportation leadership and to Secretary Pollack (spelled in meeting as “Pollock”), and to local project contacts including Rick Colon, so the town’s questions about scope, easements, and potential damages are formally recorded.
Why this matters: the project touches private property, drainage and existing roadways; large easements or takings and construction that requires ripping up a roadway could create significant neighborhood disruption and material expense for homeowners and the town.
What’s next: the walk-through is set for April 24 at 10 a.m., starting at the Lakeville Library. Selectmen said they will use that visit to press the state and the project engineer for detailed maps, a pole count, easement language and written cost estimates before the town accepts final designs or signs off on easements.
