Billerica DPW Director Details New Facility, Road Projects, and Water Quality Gains

BILLERICA -- August 12, 2025, Billerica Acting Town Manager Chris Dillon hosted DPW Director Fred Russell on Town Hall Weekly to survey the department's active projects and water system progress. Russell, who oversees 86 employees across water, wastewater, parks, engineering, and other divisions, said the new DPW facility on Trout Brook Road is on track for substantial completion in late September 2026 and will allow all department vehicles to be stored under cover for the first time. Boston Road improvements are approaching substantial completion this fall with a final asphalt top coat expected in the spring, while a pre-construction meeting with MassDOT for the next TIP project, Lexington Road and Boston Road intersection improvements, was set for the Thursday following the broadcast. On water quality, Russell said that introducing a routine hydrant flushing program shortly after his arrival roughly three and a half years ago produced immediate reductions in dirty-water complaints: "I can honestly say when I was in Brookline in the eight years I didn't get one dirty water call in that town because we flushed our hydrants twice a year."