The Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT) is almost halfway done with its nearly six-year project to improve Route 18 from Weymouth to Abington.

The construction will widen the road to two lanes and add a shoulder in each direction throughout the project corridor, a 4-mi. stretch of Route 18 from Middle and West streets in Weymouth to Route 139 in Abington.

Part of the project involves replacing the Route 18 bridge over the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority's (MBTA) commuter rail line.

MassDOT's contractor for the Route 18 project, P. Gioioso & Sons in Boston, implemented a new traffic pattern to perform work at the bridge over the commuter rail tracks. Lane widths were narrowed with no shoulder through the work zone.

Underground utility work needed for road widening and new traffic signals is ongoing in several locations between the bridge and the Abington town line.

Relocation of utility poles and overhead wires also is happening in several locations and may result in short-term service outages, as scheduled by utility companies. This work will continue throughout 2020.

Roadway widening in Weymouth and Abington will begin after utility pole relocation is complete in each section of the project corridor.

The project also includes the installation of new bike lanes and sidewalks near the South Weymouth MBTA train station. According to MassDOT, the $58 million project is on schedule to be completed in the spring of 2022.

As part of another Weymouth building project along Route 18, construction is under way to finish mixed-use and residential buildings at 39 Trotter Road, a project owned by John M. Corcoran & Co. LLC in Braintree.

It will consist of one multi-family structure and two buildings with a mix of apartments and retail shops. Each building has five stories.

The first of the three buildings are slated to open for occupancy in mid-October, a project director for the company told the Quincy Patriot Ledger, while the other two buildings will be finished in mid-January and the end of April 2021, respectively.

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