Watertown News (https://www.watertownmanews.com/author/cbreitro/page/722/)
A stellar second quarter and a late touchdown pushed the Watertown football team past host Burlington for the 31-28 win on Friday night. The Raiders trailed 6-3 after one quarter, but then got touchdowns from three different players to enter halftime with a 24-14 lead. First, running back Zack Rimsa scored on a three yard run. Then it was quarterback Deon Smith’s turn. He scored on an 8 yard run.
Construction on a major drainage and paving project could cause traffic delays in Watertown Square for nearly 2 months, possibly more.
Work begins on Tuesday, Oct. 11 on areas of the Municipal Parking Lot behind CVS, as well as a section of Spring Street, just off Main Street and the big intersection in the Square, and is expected to finish by the beginning of December 2016, according to a letter to the Watertown Department of Public Works from the contractor, D&M Civil. In the letter, the contractors said there could be “minor traffic/detour inconveniences” in the area of Spring Street at the corner of Summer Street. There may also be dust and noise generated by the work. The project includes installation of underground drainage chambers and piping, along with excavating and repaving the asphalt in the construction area.
Work on gas mains on Mt. Auburn Street will take place on Sundays for the near future, and could have some impact on traffic and bus service. National Grid will be drilling test holes on Mt. Auburn Street in preparation for a gas main replacement project. Crews have already replacing the gas mains on Norseman Avenue and Ralph Piteri Terrace, which are across from Sacred Heart Parish.
There are a ton of open houses to choose from this fall weekend, see them below. $235,000 – 145 Warren Unit 10, 5 room, 2 bed, 1 bath low-rise, Open House: Sunday 11:30-1
$815,000 – 218 Main St. Unit 218, 7 room, 3 bed, 2.5 bath, Open House: Saturday 3-5
$849,900 – 86 Dexter, 3 unit, 15 total room, 7 total bedroom 3 family, Open House: Sunday 12-1:30
$439,000 – 134 Hillside Road Unit 2, 6 room, 2 bed, 1 bath 2/3 family, Open Houses: Friday 12-1 Sunday 12-1:30
$425,000 – 134 Hillside Road Unit 1, 6 room, 2 bed, 1 bath 2/3 family, Open Houses: Friday 12-1 Sunday 12-1:30
$425,000 – 36 Edgecliff Road Unit 1, 6 room, 3 bed, 1 bath 2/3 family, Open Houses: Friday 11:30-1 Saturday 12-2 Sunday 12-2
$629,000 – 145 Waverley Ave. Unit 145, 6 room, 3 bed, 2.5 bath townhouse, Open Houses: Saturday 11-1 Sunday 11-1
$899,000 – 111 Watertown St. Unit 111, 9 room, 4 bed, 3.5 bath contemporary, Open House: Sunday 11-1
$748,000 – 102 Stonleigh Road, 9 room, 4 bed, 1.5 bath, Open Houses: Saturday 12-2 Sunday 1:30-3:30
Sponsored by:
$839,000 – 222 Main St.
On Thursday, Oct. 13 the Rotary Club will be having a “Rotary on Tap” function at Branch Line in the Arsenal on the Charles from 5:30-7 p.m.
Potential members are invited along with others interested in learning about the things Watertown Rotary Club does in the community and how they can get involved. Members of the Rotary Club come from big and small businesses, and the club raises money throughout the year to give back to the Watertown community and beyond. Every dollar raised gets put to use for those less fortunate. The Rotary Club just wrapped up our 24th Annual Senior Citizens cookout that fed and entertained over 200 Seniors for free.
Students from a wide variety of cultures and nations fill the classrooms of the Watertown Public Schools, and a study by Boston College researchers seeks to make sure all families are included in what is going on at school. Wednesday night, Rebecca Lowenhaupt, an assistant professor at BC’s Lynch School of Education, told the School Committee that Watertown parents, in general, have a high participation rate in school activities, but the story is different for recent immigrants. “You have a high attendance of parents at back to school night of PreK through eighth grade – 95 percent were in attendance or reached out at that time,” Lowenhaupt said. “While there is a high attendance rate for PreK-8, there is a lower rate for those who first language is not English.” About 11 percent of the students in the Watertown schools are in the English Language Learner (also known as ESL) program, and they speak 28 different languages, with the most common being Portuguese, Spanish, Armenian, Arabic and Pashto.
After several years on hiatus, the Watertown Police Department’s Citizens Police Academy is back, and residents can sign up now.
Classes will begin on Oct. 26, and will be held each Wednesday for seven weeks from 6:30-9:30 p.m.
Watertown Police Chief Michael Lawn brought back the Citizens Police Academy as part of the WPD’s community policing effort. “It was a very successful program. People really enjoyed it,” Lawn said. “And with all that’s going on in policing today I figured this is a good time to bring it back.”
Residents attending the MassDOT’s community forum Tuesday night heard some things they already knew – traffic and bus service is bad on Arsenal Street – and other things they didn’t want to know – it will get much worse unless something is done.
The Department of Transportation’s consultants from VHB told residents that traffic could increase significantly the next 25 years and that will result in more crowded and more late MBTA buses. They also discussed ways to improve public transportation and traffic on the Arsenal Street Corridor during the second community meeting on improvements to the area. Traffic will increase 17 percent in the morning peak traffic hour and 21 percent in the evening peak traffic hour, said Laura Castelli, a consultant from VHB. Looking at traffic flow, most of the congestion currently is at the two “gateways” to the Arsenal Corridor: Watertown Square and the Western Avenue/Soldier Field Road interchange on the other side of the Arsenal Street Bridge, Castelli said. Currently, 15-35 percent of stops are above capacity the way the MBTA measures it – all seats are full during non-peak time and in peak times, the bus is at capacity for sitting and standing.