It’s been over two years since the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection told Cape Cod towns they need to address nitrogen pollution in sensitive watersheds. And the list of towns currently undergoing wastewater projects is long.
Yarmouth is a year-and-a-half into a project that involves building a new wastewater treatment facility and a collection system that covers two-thirds of the town. There will be construction in Yarmouth for decades to come. The project is currently projected to span 40 years.
But in the long run, Yarmouth Public Works Director Jeff Colby said, there will be both economic development and environmental benefits.
“We’re doing this for environmental reasons, essentially targeting nitrogen in our sensitive estuaries. And in Yarmouth that is Lewis Bay, Parkers River and the Bass River,” he explained.
Phase one of the project includes sections of Route 28 and South Shore Drive – both busy roadways in the height of the summer. So construction was scaled back between Memorial Day and Labor Day.
But now, construction is back in full force in Yarmouth. And Colby has some tips for drivers:
“Be alert, follow the signage, look at the town website, where we do post the schedules of where the contractors will be working.”
And he said the best way to negotiate the detours and delays is by using the navigation app Waze.
“Every day we enter into the app the information of where the actual crews are physically working,” Colby said. “But the app will route you around that work, if you use it.”
Colby said, as phase one projects wrap up, there will be a shift of major construction this fall and winter. He said to expect excavation work to start from west of the Parkers River Bridge, all the way to the Barnstable town line.
