Work crews dig up Boston’s streets hundreds of times a year. Why? – The Boston Globe

Does any city dig up its streets as much as Boston does?

And what, exactly, do residents get in exchange for putting up with incessant jackhammering, the traffic congestion around excavation sites, and the bumpy, patched-up roads that work crews often seem to leave behind?

According to the city’s data, as of last Friday there have been 885 public-works permits issued for street work this year, of which 376 have been for “emergencies.” Most of those emergencies were gas leaks, but it also includes sewer and hydrant repairs and responding to electrical outages.

Emergency permits are especially notable because they allow crews to work around the clock, no matter how earsplitting the work is.

It seems like an unusual amount of digging. That was certainly my impression moving back to Boston after living in Washington, D.C., in the early 2000s. And while there are clearly bigger problems, streets marred by too much digging are a problem for drivers and cyclists alike.

Anecdotal impressions can be deceiving, of course (I couldn’t find apples-to-apples data comparing the frequency of street excavations in Boston to other cities — e-mail me if you have it!) And even if Boston does dig up its streets more often than other cities, it’s an old enough place that its infrastructure may simply need more frequent care.

According to Ricardo Patrón, a spokesman for Mayor Michelle Wu, the city instituted a utility coordination system in 2009 that’s meant, in part, to prevent “a neighborhood street from being dug up multiple times — especially after being resurfaced.” But he noted that in case of emergency, crews may need to dig anyway.

Mark Baldwin, director of electric field operations at Eversource, said the type of electric cables used to connect homes decades ago can fail, requiring emergency work. For planned digs, he said, the utility synchronizes with the city and other utility companies to piggyback on each other’s projects when possible. He also said the utility tries to be attentive to neighborhood needs — for instance, by avoiding digs near restaurants during dining hours. As for the quality of the streets left behind, he said that the city can request fixes.”

If they are not happy, even months after the work has been done, we will go back out and fix it. I would like to say we’re 100 percent perfect all the time, but sometimes it could be a pocket under the pavement, or the trench is slightly not flush with the street,” he said.

I’d be remiss not to point out that in Massachusetts, unlike other states, utility digs are also a lucrative source of paid details for police officers. Now, I’m certainly not saying that policy leads to more and longer digs, but let’s just say it creates a constituency that benefits from street excavations.

Have you noticed work that seems redundant or unnecessary, or rough pavement left behind that makes it hard to drive, bike, or walk? Let us know.

Alan Wirzbicki is Globe deputy editor for editorials. He can be reached at alan.wirzbicki@globe.com.