Haverhill City Hall
The city will pay a group of 44 property owners nearly $43,000 for access to their land during the reconstruction of Broadway from Research Drive to Silver Birch Lane.
The $7.8 million project is expected to begin later this year and take as long as three years to complete, said City Engineer John H. Pettis.
In addition to rebuilding the roadway, the project includes granite curbing, new cement sidewalks, bicycle lanes and new signals at the intersections of Lake and Forest streets.
For a handful of property owners at the Lake Street intersection, the city will take slivers of land to place traffic lights, Pettis said.
Another group of residents will be paid for permanent easements on their properties for things like utility poles and drainage.
A third group will be compensated for temporary easements to allow workers to access their land that will last only as long as the construction.
Bids for the project are expected to be advertised on April 29, after which construction companies will have eight weeks to respond, Pettis said. The state will likely certify the low bidder this fall, with construction starting shortly after, he said.
The reconstruction is a joint state and federal project, with the Federal Highway Administration picking up 80 percent of the cost and the Massachusetts Department of Transportation carrying the remainder.