Expect Delays As Millstone Road Project Begins

BREWSTER – After nine years of planning, four town meeting approvals and four community forums, work began Monday on the Millstone Road project. To date, this has been the largest public works road project for the town, according to interim Town Engineer Griffin Ryder. 

The project will be broken out into three seasonal phases ending approximately in spring 2026. Millstone Road is a heavily trafficked avenue between Route 137 and Route 6A, with access to Nickerson State Park and the Cape Cod Rail Trail. 

Officials opened contract bids at the end of July with CC Construction placing the winning bid. CC Construction has completed projects like the Cape Cod Hospital tower expansion, the Strawberry Hill Road sewer expansion in Barnstable and the Orleans Meetinghouse Pond sewer improvements.

Phase one will take place this fall and continue into early spring, including a final walkthrough with town officials and general contractors to verify design plans one last time. Vegetation and trees will be flagged or spray painted for removal. 

Drainage installation, starting at Route 137 and working towards Route 6A, will begin once the obstructing soil and stumps have been fully removed. Residents had questions regarding drainage solutions for side roads, specifically areas where water collects. 

At an informational session Oct. 29, resident Julie Norgeot raised the issue of puddles at the intersection with Joe Long Road, asking, “Will that [issue] be taken care of because it’s so close to Millstone?” Ryder said the work will affect the aprons of driveways off Millstone, but work will not extend further down those roads. 

Full-depth construction will occur next spring, creating “a consistent corridor of width,” said Ryder. Contractors will begin work at the Route 6A intersection heading southbound, allowing one lane of through traffic. Following completion of the first lane, work will begin on the opposing lane, moving in the reverse direction. 

According to the schedule, construction will halt due to the summer moratorium starting June 15 and resume after Labor Day. 

Next fall will cover sidewalk construction and curbing installation, soil removal for grading tie-ins, milling and final paving.

The sidewalks were a main topic of discussion at the community session, primarily regarding accessibility and corner sharpness. 

At the start of the project, plans included a traditional asphalt berm and grass strip between the road and the sidewalk. After listening to Millstone homeowners, officials found it more important to limit any private property taking and thus didn’t have the width necessary to include a grass strip.

The approved plan now consists of an ADA-compliant sidewalk right beside the roadway. State regulations require a specific vertical rise between the road and the curb if there isn’t a gap. For this reason, officials chose to use granite curbing, but have tried to soften the edging so it’s more cyclist-friendly, although pedals will not be able to fully clear the curb. 

From Route 137, the sidewalk will be added on the right side heading north until Nickerson State Park, close to Joe Long Road, where it will then switch to the left side. For just a couple hundred feet, the sidewalk will be on both sides of the road.

The goals of the project include ADA compliance, improved safety, better interconnection between town amenities and updated drainage, all while maintaining classic Cape Cod character. For this reason, Ryder said that the curvature of the road and the large rock located near the rail trail will remain. 

Many homeowners asked for additional safety measures to be added to the rail trail crossing. Town Manager Peter Lombardi urged caution, noting that speed and bike rules for the crosswalk will be enforced as best as possible. One radar speed sign has been added to the road, and the town is looking into the possibility of adding more. 

Work will take place during the hours of 7 a.m. and 3 p.m. with no traffic changes until 7:30 a.m. to accommodate school bus pickups. Town officials wanted to be clear that construction will not take place on weekends and the traffic patterns will consist of single-lane closures. 

For more information and updates, there is a project-specific page on the Brewster town website.