Our Mission: to enhance the quality of life for citizens, businesses, and visitors to the City of Newton by providing well-planned, sustainable, high quality and financially sound public works projects and utility services, along with supporting citywide emergency response and delivering respectful customer service.

Commissioner of Public Works, James McGonagle
Deputy Commissioner, Shawna Sullivan

The Public Works Department consists of eight divisions, which include Customer Service, Engineering, Finance, Fleet, Streets, Sustainable Materials Management, Transportation, and Utilities.  There are over 190 employees dedicated to providing essential services for residents, businesses, and visitors to the City of Newton. Whether fixing a pothole, paving a road, repairing a water leak, designing and constructing traffic calming measures, responding to a weather disaster, or fielding a resident’s request, the Department of Public Works provides round the clock assistance to the City.

At the forefront of department’s objectives for fiscal year 2022 is the continued implementation of the Transportation Network Improvement Program. This program seeks to improve and maintain an unprecedented amount of City streets and sidewalks to provide accessible streets and sidewalks for drivers, pedestrians, and bicyclists. The Transportation Network Improvement Program includes the design, construction and maintenance of roadways, sidewalks, ADA ramps, bicycle accommodations, traffic calming projects, traffic control devices, pavement markings and signage to optimize safety and traffic flow for all public way users.

The Department of Public Works is responsible for the curbside collection of trash, yard waste, organics, and recyclables as well as disposal of these materials. The Sustainable Materials Division is responsible for operating the resource recovery center at Rumford Avenue, which provides residents with the opportunity to reduce, reuse, and recycle at the facility.

The Public Works Department is committed to ensuring that the drinking water continues to be top quality by conducting weekly water testing and continuing the annual water pipe replacement, lining and cleaning projects. Efforts also include continuing with sewer infrastructure improvements to reduce the City’s utility assessment along with improving stormwater quality throughout the City.

Public Works has put a large emphasis on promoting environmental sustainability to ensure a bright future for generations to come by continuing to improve and increase the number of city-owned electric and alternative fueled vehicles and equipment.  

Current Department of Public Works Operations

The Department of Public Works is working to address the concerns of our residents and customers that we serve to ensure we continue to provide reliable services.

The Department of Public Works is fully open to the public.

We're Hiring in Public Works!

Join our DPW team to keep the City's roadways, sidewalks, crosswalks, and utilities infrastructure operational and the City running! Find out more about our open positions here. You can apply for all our open positions here.