By Debra Messick

CAMBRIDGE - To Choptank Avenue resident Peter Barclay, the sight of Caterpillar machines and workers digging in the middle of the Water Street s-turn was a welcome sight.

Barclay, who has lived several houses away from the intersection since 2016, has gotten used to seeing manhole covers pop up after the increasingly frequent street flooding after heavy rain.

“For us, it’s an inconvenience. But for people living up and down Hambrooks Avenue and Water Street, it’s a serious problem,” Barclay said.

City Engineer Carl “Bucky” Jackson explained that work on the extensive overhaul began last month and is anticipated to continue for a period of 270 calendar days, with the end of construction slated for January 2025, not counting authorized time extensions.

Contractor David A. Bramble, Inc., will replace more than 4,900 linear feet of main sewer lines, install thirty new manholes, and resurface the road after completion, Jackson said.

The project’s location is along Hambrooks Avenue, and Hambrooks Blvd from Choptank Avenue to Somerset Avenue, he said.

Most of the personnel working at the project site will be contractor employees, with some city employees also on-site providing oversight. Water department workers may also be needed to reconfigure some water lines that interfere with construction progress, Jackson said.

According to Barclay, another positive aspect to the traffic stoppage is the break from vehicles speeding through the tricky S curve intersection. When the work is completed, Barclay hopes the City can produce a solution to make the road safer, through speed traps, radar guns, or other means.