Winter Cleanup Underway in Westwood

The harsh weather this past winter certainly left its fair share of scars on several parts of the state, including Westwood. Scars in the form of divots in the road and broken tree limbs.

"We definitely have a large number of potholes," said Vicki Quiram, director of the Westwood Department of Public Works. "There's a lot to do to clean up for Spring."

The DPW finished clearing branches and debris left on the town's public roads from this winter's weather by mid-March, Quiram said, as well as filling in potholes.

The cleanup, which is not funded through the town's but rather the DPW's normal operating budget, requires more work than normal, due to the number of harsh storms Westwood endured this year.

"(There's) a lot, in comparison to what we normally get with less snow," Quiram said.

But that cleanup does not include private roads and debris that might have landed on residents' properties, she clarified.

"There's no way we can do that with our budget," Quiram said.

A handful of residents, she added, have asked whether the DPW would pick up debris that would be left on the side of the road. However, DPW crews have been committed to cleaning up public ways, and are encouraging residents to call them with questions on what to do with that debris.

"We do have some resources where you can take your wood," Quiram said.

The debris has been scattered across much of the town, and Quiram said there hasn't necessarily been one area that was affected more than others.

"It's really overall," she said. "It really was the entire town, pretty homogeneously."

Meanwhile, the DPW will begin street sweeping on Monday, April 4, an action that will take place through much of next week.

The sweeping will take place on average between 5 a.m. and 3 p.m., Quiram said, though that time frame may vary from day to day next week. As such, crews are asking that residents refrain from parking on public roads during that time.

For more information on what to do with broken tree limbs or other debris that resulted from the winter storms, call (781) 320-1037 or (781) 251-2589.