Seawall Reconstruction Nears End as Hull Select Board Approves New One-Way Traffic Plan and Major Intersection Overhaul
HULL - June 24, 2026 - The multi-million dollar Nantasket Avenue seawall reconstruction project is slated to reach substantial completion by the end of June, triggering sweeping traffic pattern modifications along Hull’s northern shoreline. The Select Board voted 4-1 to solidify a permanent northbound one-way traffic pattern along the seawall, slice the speed limit to 20 miles per hour, and advance an extensive late-summer reshaping of the hazardous Point Allerton intersection. The decision follows months of public debate regarding safety and residential quality of life.
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With the structural phase of the Nantasket Avenue seawall project drawing to a close, Town Manager Jennifer Constable and project engineers Kevin Mooney from Waterways Project Management and Kevin Buruchian from GEI presented a unified traffic management plan developed alongside Police Chief John Dunn. The approved changes will establish a single travel lane flowing exclusively northbound toward Pemberton Point along the seawall, leaving room for an adjacent pedestrian walkway on the lagoon side.
The engineered traffic configuration was backed by a September 2024 traffic study conducted by Green International, which analyzed conditions after a “painted island” was installed at the Beacon Road intersection to observe impacts during the school year. While data showed the surrounding intersections maintained favorable “A” and “B” level ratings, several local residents spoke out at the meeting to express severe skepticism regarding the safety of the current configuration.
Safety and infrastructure limits emerged as major flashpoints during the public comment period. Board member Jerry Taverna and multiple residents questioned the town’s decision to raise the roadway by three feet alongside a seven-to-thirteen-foot vegetative strip without introducing a structural guardrail. Project representative Kevin Mooney clarified that heavy steel bollards filled with concrete and topped with ten-year solar lamps will be driven into the vegetative buffer behind the asphalt walkway to block stray vehicles. Reflective, flexible stanchions will line the road to isolate the walking path, though Mooney noted these “flappy things” must be removed every winter to permit snow plowing operations.
