LEOMINSTER — The Leominster City Council voted Monday, June 8, 2026, to approve National Grid utility work on Mechanic Street, Manning Avenue, and Central Street as part of a project tied to the Monoosnoc Brook reconstruction effort.
The petition, listed as 57-26, was filed by Massachusetts Electric Company, doing business as National Grid.
The company requested permission to excavate public highways and run and maintain underground electric conduits, along with related fixtures and house connections.
According to the petition read into the record, National Grid plans to install underground conduit and cable from manhole 5373 on Mechanic Street to manhole 5583. The company also plans to install a new manhole, numbered 5580, on Central Street.
National Grid also plans to install underground conduit and cable from existing manhole number 8 to manhole 5580 and into the property at 13 Central Street.
During the public hearing, Councilor Carrie Noseworthy, chairperson of the Public Service Committee, read into the record a May 22 email from Mayor Dean Mazzarella.
In the email, Mazzarella said the work is related to the Monoosnoc Brook project and involves conduit and duct work on Manning Avenue, Mechanic Street, and Central Street.
According to the mayor’s email, utility lines currently cross Monoosnoc Brook from an area near a parking lot to Manning Avenue and will be relocated underground to a more appropriate location.
“In addition, National Grid will be updating their underground system in the area while the Monoosnoc contractor is working in the road and so the road and sidewalks and parking lot will not have to be torn up anytime in the near future,” Mazzarella wrote.
Mazzarella said the Monoosnoc Brook project is a “complex project with many moving parts” and asked the council to approve the petition as soon as possible so the broader project could stay on track.
Muhammad Alifi, a distribution design engineer with National Grid, told councilors that he is the designer for the utility project.
“The main focus is to remove a conduit crossing over the brook,” Alifi said.
Alifi said National Grid is working with the Department of Public Works to make sure everything is on track. He said the conduit and manhole systems will also improve reliability in downtown Leominster.
“We have a couple adjacent projects where we’re installing switch gears in the area,” Alifi said. “And so this will overall give downtown Leominster alternate feeds, improve reliability, and then also remove the bridge structure.”
Alifi said the lines will be relocated and upgraded with new cable.
When asked whether the work would increase capacity, Alifi said it would.
“Exactly. Increased capacity,” Alifi said. “So, it would be thicker cable.”
Alifi said the new cables will tie into switch gears and handle the load in the area. He also said the new conduit will include spare space so that future cable upgrades can be made by opening the manholes and pulling new cable, rather than tearing up the area again.
No members of the public spoke for or against the petition during the hearing.
The Public Service Committee recommended approval, and the city council granted the petition by a vote of 9-0.
