Selectmen hear $5.5 million roadway project is 65 percent done, on budget

LINCOLN -- September 14, 2009, Lincoln's $5.5 million road project hits 65 percent complete, on time and on budget. Highway Superintendent Chris Bibbo told the Board of Selectmen that Baker Bridge and Sandy Pond roads are essentially finished, Trapelo Road milling begins Sept. 28, and Bedford Road reclamation started this week, with mid-November completion targeted. Town Administrator Tim Higgins said the Sunshine Paving contract came in at $2.6 million against $400,000 in engineering, leaving $1.5 million to $2 million for Phase 2 covering Route 117 and Lincoln Road. Separately, the board confronted a projected $444,000 fiscal 2010 deficit; Selectman Gary Taylor objected that Finance Committee plans would spare Lincoln-Sudbury service cuts by tapping its $89,000 stabilization fund instead. "Everybody else takes a cut in services," Taylor said. Higgins also reported Emerson Hospital will end paramedic service by September 2010, forcing 13 towns into regional planning.