Current Status of Construction in Massachusetts - MARCH 31
March 25, 2020
WRITTEN BY: TOM NALLY, Senior Advisor
Last week, the Governor’s Office issued new guidelines for construction as part of an update to municipalities. An exhibit that is part of this update designates construction work as Essential Services and workers engaged in construction as within the COVID-19 Essential Workforce.
Nationally, communities are facing choices about balancing worker and community health concerns with continuing to advance essential projects particularly infrastructure and housing projects.
STATEWIDE
Infrastructure projects under the control of the MBTA or the MassDOT Highway Division continue with construction. These projects include the Green Line Extension in Somerville, work on the Tobin Bridge and Chelsea Curves, the North Washington Street Bridge, or other road and bridge projects across the state. These are outdoor projects where the workers are spread out and use goggles, gloves, and in this season, coats.
MassDOT states that these projects need to continue for safety and reliability reasons. The MBTA General Manager reported to the Fiscal Management and Control Board on March 23 on the status of capital projects for the following three weeks:
- MBTA Construction Field Projects not using MBTA Operations or Keolis staff support will continue.
- MBTA Construction Field Projects using MBTA Operations or Keolis staff support will be rescheduled/prioritized:
- Life safety activities, safety-critical work, and environmental stewardship work will continue.
- All other projects will be prioritized and rescheduled.
- Professional services, third-party construction fieldwork, and vendor construction (except those supporting State of Good Repair and reliability) will be paused.
- Keolis Projects will continue.
- Project sites support social distancing practices
Other members of the Essential Workforce include workers involved in airport operations, energy services, solid waste collection and removal, and the internet and telecommunications. Also included are construction workers who support “the construction, operation, inspection, and maintenance of construction sites and construction projects (including housing construction)”.
The Order of the Governor, that contains these definitions, further “provides that all construction projects are to ‘continue operations during the state of emergency, but to do so with allowance for social distancing protocols consistent with guidance provided by the Department of Public Health.’ Local policies, regulations, or directives that provide otherwise are in direct conflict with the Order and should be withdrawn.”
Commonwealth agencies that undertake horizontal and vertical construction [eg. roads and buildings] have adopted a detailed set of safety practices for all projects under their management.
All state project sites where construction is continuing are taking voluntary or mandatory steps with sanitizers and soap as well as decontamination of sites in use to protect workers and the public from the spread of the COVID-19 virus. Workers who are sick are not to report to job sites. The state has issued a detailed three page “General On-the-Job Guidance to Prevent Exposure & Limit the Transmission of the Virus.”
GUIDELINES
At the top of the list of guidelines is the directive that workers who are sick must stay home or go home if they become ill on the job. Temperature screening is also required. The remainder of the guidelines are essentially similar to those for the public as a whole: no handshakes, hand washing, site decontamination, maintaining six-foot social distance, no sharing water bottles, use of gloves.
Additional work site precautions include a reminder about eye protection, hand wash stations with soap and use of paper towels. It is up to the supervisors on-site to enforce these guidelines, and some have questioned the effectiveness of these measures where working conditions require proximity to co-workers. Some contractors have shut down sites to provide for worker health safety, and others have not. The state guidelines are clear that if contractors adopt stricter standards, the most stringent standards shall apply.
CITY OF BOSTON
Boston was the first large city in the country to halt construction for an initial 14 day period beginning on March 16. Mayor Walsh has continued with the construction ban in the city, which has been extended “until further notice”.
Projects in Boston but located on Massport property are continuing in the South Boston Waterfront and at Logan Airport, but work has stopped on one of these projects when a worker became sick on site.
CITY OF CAMBRIDGE
Cambridge has also declared a construction moratorium.
CITY OF SOMERVILLE
Construction projects in Somerville have been placed on hold.
OTHER MUNICIPALITIES IN MASSACHUSETTS
Construction projects are reportedly continuing in Medford, Quincy, and Brookline.
Some other states and municipalities have followed Boston and shut down or curtailed construction activity.
NATIONWIDE
In many jurisdictions, there are a variety of interpretations about job site public health issues being balanced with the designation of critical projects, particularly residential projects where housing demand is high and it is in short supply. Small business contractors are reportedly concerned about the economic impacts of shutting down construction, but neighbors of some construction sites worry about health issues.
In New York, Governor Cuomo has designated construction as an essential service. Construction continues in New York State, but may be subject to change with changing conditions. Mayor de Blasio has now shut down construction projects in New York City that have not been designated as critical.
Construction is continuing in San Francisco and Las Vegas. In San Francisco, Palo Alto, and San Jose residential construction, high end and affordable remains underway, but remains controversial in some quarters, according to the Washington Post. Safety on site is in a precarious balance with workers who want to continue receiving a paycheck. In Santa Clara County, guidelines allow construction to continue as long as social distancing rules are complied with. The question of how to achieve social distancing on the job site is asked but not answered in many cases. Infrastructure projects continue in DC and Los Angeles.
