The Town of Andover was awarded a $3.3 million MassWorks Infrastructure grant to support improvements to the corridor in November 2023. Over the past 12 months, the Andover Planning Division and Department of Public Works have conducted extensive public outreach to residents and businesses in the area to refine the scope of the project and ensure that it aligns with the preferences of the neighborhood. The outcome of this community-drive planning process will be presented during the November 20th public information session.
Essex Street is located in Downtown Andover, and runs from Elm Square to Red Spring Road. It also serves as a major connector road, or “spine,” of the mixed-use corridor west of Main Street. The anticipated improvements will aim to make the corridor more walkable, improve the safety of intersections along the route for all users, strengthen the connectivity between Downtown Andover and key destinations including the MBTA commuter rail station and Historic Mill District, and support future housing development.
The Essex Street corridor project will specifically target multimodal safety improvements to three key intersections identified as needing improvement in a Circulation and Street Design Study for the Historic Mill District completed by the Town of Andover in 2019:
- Essex Street at Pearson Street/Railroad Street
- Essex Street at School Street
- Essex Street at Ridge Street/Brook Street
The Town anticipates that construction on the project will begin in the spring of 2026.