Route 128 To Be Repaved

Route 128 will soon be getting a facelift.

Resurfacing on the Weston and Waltham stretches will start in April along with work to improve drainage, according to state Department of Transportation Spokesman Richard Nangle.

Both sides of the highway on the 4.1 mile span will be repaved to the Lexington/Waltham line, according to state records. The work will end by April 2014, according to Nangle. 

The transportation department is taking steps to avoid causing major delays for motorists. Nangle, in an e-mail, said work will be performed between 9 p.m. and 5 a.m. Sundays through Fridays. Between Wednesday, June 1 and Labor Day, “no significant work” will be done during weekends, because the road will be an alternate route for drivers trying to avoid a separate project on Interstate 93 in Medford, Nangle said.

The project is designed to increase the road’s safety and drainage.  Currently, the road’s shoulders are insufficiently wide for disabled vehicles to use, which has resulted in several fatal crashes, according to state records.

Also, the work will include modifications that would prevent hazardous materials that may spill onto the road from flowing in nearby bodies of water, according to state records.

Federal funds will cover 90-percent of the project’s $28 million cost, while state transportation bonds will pay the remainder, according to state records.