Gardner seeks MVP grant to replace failing Keys Road culvert, preserve sole neighborhood access

Justin Enroyd, conservation planning agent for the Gardner City Office of Community Development and Planning, opened a public information panel on the Keyes Road culvert project, saying the city has identified “a failing culvert … which we’ve identified needs replacing.”

Matt Zorick, a representative of Tighe & Bond, described the existing structure as “an 8 foot, corrugated, like, metal pipe” that was lined in the early 2000s and is now showing deterioration. “It’s also undersized for its purpose,” Zorick said, and the proposed replacement is a roughly 24-foot-wide open-bottom precast structure intended to match the natural stream bottom, improve sediment transport and wildlife passage, and increase resilience to future flood events.

The project team told attendees that the Keys Road culvert is the only access point into the neighborhood and provides the sole public access to an adjacent conservation area. Enroyd said failure of the culvert could strand residents; presenters also…