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The City of Methuen is Investing a Record $5.7 Million in Improving Streets and Sidewalks, and Work is Underway

Grating, repairs, fixture adjustments, and repaving are coming to over 12 miles of roadway in Methuen this fiscal year thanks to a recent record investment by the City in maintaining streets. 
A work crew from professional contractor EJ Paving, of Methuen, applies a new layer of asphalt to Forest Street last week. The work is part of a recent record investment of more than $5.7 million in repairing and maintaining City streets. (Photo Courtesy City of Methuen)

METHUEN — Grating, repairs, fixture adjustments, and repaving are coming to over 12 miles of roadway in Methuen this fiscal year thanks to a recent record investment by the City in maintaining streets. 

Historically, the City of Methuen did not fully invest in maintaining roads, and the results are plain to anyone who has driven in the city. The late Mayor Neil Perry began efforts to increase spending on roads, and the current administration has continued that work. 

Now, the City of Methuen is investing over $5.7 million in Fiscal Year 2027 to maintain, repair, and repave Methuen streets, as well as sidewalks, and that investment will also see over 20 miles of roadway crack sealed. 

The work is already underway and also includes adjusting fixtures to be level with new asphalt. The work is being done by local, professional contractors who won competitive bids. 

The Department of Public Works uses a comprehensive system to evaluate all roads on an ongoing basis, and then uses those evaluations to target repairs and maintenance efforts on areas that are most in need. Using this system enables the City to use taxpayer funds as efficiently as possible while also maximizing the effects.

The ongoing evaluations enable DPW planners to determine which streets need simple crack sealing to maintain the life of asphalt, and which streets need to be grated and repaved, and which streets are so heavily worn and damaged that they need to be completely resurfaced. Complete resurfacing is a more expensive and time-consuming treatment that is used only when needed. 

The City is also investing in sidewalk repairs, and over a mile of sidewalk will be replaced this fiscal year. 

“This is our most ambitious road improvement effort in years,” said Mayor D.J. Beauregard. “Historically, we have not invested as much as we should have in maintaining our infrastructure. But we have heard the voices of community members who want road repairs to be a priority of this administration and City government. We are investing a record amount in repairing and maintaining our roads, and we plan to continue doing so moving forward.”

To view highlight videos documenting the work, visit the City of Methuen’s social media pages in the coming days and weeks. 

To view a schedule of repair work being done around the city, visit: www.cityofmethuen.net/846/Paving-Updates.

A road milling machine operated by Tread Milling, of Methuen, pours old asphalt into a dump truck on Butternut Lane recently. (Photo Courtesy City of Methuen)
An employee of Tread Milling, of Methuen, uses a jackhammer to cleanup parts of Butternut Lane that a milling machine missed recently. After milling and fixture adjustment were done by contractors, another Methuen-based contractor repaved the street. (Photo Courtesy City of Methuen)
Pebbles fly through the air as a multi-ton milling machine operated by Tread Milling, of Methuen, works on Butternut Lane recently. (Photo Courtesy City of Methuen)
A view of Butternut Lane before it was milled and repaved recently. As part of the ongoing repair work targeting over 12 miles of Methuen streets, professional contractors adjust fixtures such as this manhole cover to ensure they are even with new asphalt. (Photo Courtesy City of Methuen)
Workers from EJ Paving, of Methuen, use steamrollers to ensure a new coat of asphalt on Forest Street is flat and even. (Photo Courtesy City of Methuen)

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