Hingham Select Board Backs Roundabout Grant Bid at Dangerous School-Route Intersection

HINGHAM -- November 18, 2025, Hingham Select Board unanimously endorsed a $1.5 million roundabout grant application for the Main, Middle, and Short Street intersection and approved a five-year trash-disposal contract at a negotiated 2.7 percent annual rate increase. Town Engineer J.R. Fry told the board that MassDOT's revised grant structure could allow the town to stack Complete Streets, Shared Streets, Safe Routes to School, and Municipal Roads funding to cover full construction costs, with applications due January 6 and awards expected by early February; the intersection has recorded at least 20 accidents over four years, including a fatality, and sits on the walking route to Hingham High School. DPW Superintendent Ashley Ber and procurement chief David Agra reported that the town negotiated Reworld Seamass Limited Partnership's proposed 4 percent annual increase down to 2.7 percent, with rates running from $108.15 per ton in 2026 to $122.90 per ton through December 31, 2030, covering an average of 5,160 tons of solid waste per year. Town Administrator Tom Mayo informed the board that the Supreme Judicial Court last Friday denied the town's final appeal in the Riverstone Development Chapter 40B case, ending more than seven years of litigation over a 32-unit condominium project on Ward Street and requiring the town and Zoning Board of Appeals to comply with the lower court's permit conditions.