Lord Overpass

The most prominent, expansive and impactful project, by far, is the Thorndike Street reconfiguration. The five-phase project will enter phase three by year’s end, which means that the temporary and winding deviations through the intersection will soon get a permanent and straight track laid down in asphalt, demarked in lines and arrows.

Thorndike Street, under what was once referred to as the Lord Overpass, is now underground after being swallowed up by tons of earthen filler. The roadways associated with the area will be reconfigured in the massive project, which is scheduled for completion of all five phases in early 2023.

The changes will span from Broadway Street at the north to Gallagher Square at the south.

“This is good for the city,” Thomas said, adding that the bridges over Thorndike Street “had been flagged by the state” as being in need of repair.

By removing them from the landscape altogether, the city will not be burdened with those repair costs.

The $22 million project is funded in large part through grants from the state, including a single chunk of $15 million still in the coffers from the Gov. Deval Patrick administration.

Adjustments to the main artery also require changes to the capillaries. The halfdozen perpendicular junctures to Thorndike Street will be reworked to maximize traffic flow. Among the tendrils are Chelmsford, Middlesex, Appleton, Jackson, Summer and Dutton streets.

The east/west crossroads will all be direct, two-way streets with their own set of traffic lights.

The middle lanes, in both directions of Thorndike Street, will be dedicated bus lanes. This change, along with an ancillary but related project, will be augmented by a widening of the artery near Gallagher Square.

At the northern end of the project, onto Dutton Street, a 900-spot parking garage has been erected along with a new bridge. That project is nearly complete but will remain closed while another “private enterprise” company continues its work erecting a residential complex. Once opened, it will connect both ends of Canal Street and allow for a meandering automobile route from Jackson Street to Broadway.