The other half of Cottage

Rockland St - the school buses generate a lot of wear and tear

Cottage Street. It's a major north-south road for Natick and it's a patchwork of aging repairs. Cars often straddle the centerline to avoid the patches - very dangerous on the curves. (I actually believe there have been a couple of accidents related to this in the past year.)

Everett Street, Cottage and Rockland all very much need repair!

Pitts St - especially when school opens - road is bad enough, but add cars parked on both sides picking up/dropping off, kids crossing, and some points having to walk in the streets - it could definitely use some work.

Orchard Road, off Oak St. School busses, heavy traffic. Road has been patched,
repaired for years. A big mess!

FYI - the middle section of Cottage (Woodland to Countryside) will be brought to Town Meeting in the coming year for a funding request. This section does not have drainage, which needs to be installed in order to have sidewalks. The lower section (Countryside to Everett) is the subject of a town sewer study, which should be completed this year or next. Once that is done the town can develop a recommendation to consider drainage, sewer, sidewalks and the roadway. Cottage is in rough shape but was a private road until recently.

Rockland Street repairs get underway this month.

School Street Ext, near Natick center. It is ridiculous.

Cottage Street. I am one of those people that looks for a spot to drive my car to limit the damage done each time I drive the street. Incredible that the town let it get in the condition that it has. Spoke with the Selectman on the subject, it would appear they can doing nothing to resolve. People driving the road are more focused on trying to avoid damage and wear and tear to their car than what is entering and exiting the road from roads and driveways. Perhaps when one of the folks living on Cottage or one of their visitors is killed or seriously injured by someone trying to avoid the mess the town management will wake up.

Barnesdale Road--sidewalks are awful and the neighborhood has a tremendous amout of children, forcing kids to ride bikes on the bumpy street. Not to mention, buses come down the street as well.

Bacon Street from Walnut to Marion.

Union Street sidewalks could also use a great deal of work. They are rough in places and most concerning is the section just south of Brook street where you cannot pass between the tandem telephone poles and the guardrail while pushing a stroller. Its obvious that this is a recognized issue, because there is a "cutout" in the middle of the guardrail so that you can exit the sidewalk and unsafely use the street for a about a 100 feet or so before you can reenter the sidewalk. Union street has a number of curves with no additional space on either side of the lane to accommodate bicycles and this is understandable due to the age of the road and the properties that abut it. For this reason, the sidewalks should be kept in top condition and should not have any impassable areas. Does anyone know if there is a plan to correct the issue? Has it been addressed with Nstar? Thanks for any info you can provide.

Indian Ridge Rd. Is in rough shape.I would be interested to know how the town decides what the criteria is for relating a street. I would think that with all the income from the Natick mall and various businesses along rte 9 that Natick would have the best School rating and maybe well maintained roads. I will say that the town does do very good snow removal.

This topic would be a good article, Justin. I'll cover some of the issues that were raised in comments.

Other than major road projects - such as Glen, Oak, Cottage etc. - most local roadway projects are paid for exclusively with so-called Chapter 90 funds, which lately have been about $1 million per year for Natick. This is state gas tax revenue that is returned to cities and towns. The town has a 5-year plan that is informed by our pavement management system where every street is given a roadway surface rating. The Town Engineer recommends projects based on the condition of the road, the nature of the repair, cost, the economy of doing nearby streets in a neighborhood, and whether the streets are publicly accepted. Some towns budget more than Chapter 90 for their regular maintenance - Natick does not, the main exception being large projects, which if they involve water or sewer work are partially funded by water/sewer funds.

Major projects on state roads - Oak/9, route 27, 27/9 for example - are paid for with state and federal $ (apart from Ch. 90) through a process call the TIP (Transportation Improvement Program). But the town is usually responsible for developing initial design work to apply for this funding, which is a problem for Natick and other towns and cities.

The 5 year plan for Ch. 90, and Natick budget info, is available on the town web site (natickma.gov). I am glad to try and answer or refer questions - joshua@ostroff.net or 508 654-3330.

Lincoln St. Ext. - I don't think there is any actual road left, just patches on patches!