Doyle Avenue

Doyle Avenue is a short street in the south part of Billerica running from Lexington Road to Ox Road, near the Vining School. It was laid out on the Middlesex Subdivision, a neighborhood of house lots of about 15,000 to 21,000 square feet between Lexington Road, School Lane and land of Billerica Homes Inc. Fred A. Joyce, surveyor, of Belmont drew the "Middlesex Subdivision, Billerica, Mass." in five sheets dated July 21, 1954, for its owner, B and G Realty Trust of 4 Ivy Circle, Arlington. The Planning Board approved it on September 24, 1954, subject to a certificate filed with the plan, and it was recorded on September 30, 1954 (Plan Book 84, Plan 155). Sheets 1 and 2 show Doyle Avenue 50 feet wide, from Lexington Road to the corner of Ox Road, with lot 16 on one side and lots 17 to 22 on the other. The street guide of 1957 lists "Doyle Avenue From Lexington rd to Ox rd," and the assessors date most of its houses to about 1955.

The plan does not explain the name. The Planning Board that approved the plan in 1954 was chaired by Gordon C. Brainerd and included Howard A. Doyle, who had been elected to the board that year, along with Kenrick Barnes, Morris Arakelian and Chester C. Sandberg. No record found says the street was named for Doyle.

The warrant for the annual meeting of 1958 asked the town "to improve Doyle Avenue a distance of approximately 460 feet at a sum not to exceed $2,375.00 under the Betterment Act," with similar articles for Martin Drive and Gordon Terrace; the street does not appear among the betterment streets voted that year. Doyle Avenue was accepted at the ninth session of the annual town meeting on May 13, 1976, on a motion "to accept the laying out of DOYLE AVENUE in accordance with a plan on file with the Town Clerk a way 50 feet wide and 425 feet more or less long"; the Street Acceptance Committee concurred and the Finance Committee did not. It was overlaid under the town's roadway contract of 2001.

References

1. Annual Report 1954: Planning Board report, Gordon C. Brainerd chairman, Howard A. Doyle elected to the board
2. Warrant for 1958: Arts. 65-67, improve Doyle Avenue, Martin Drive and Gordon Terrace under the Betterment Act
3. Annual Report 1976: May 13, 1976 session, Doyle Avenue accepted, 50 feet wide and 425 feet long
4. Annual Report 2001: roadway Contract 01-R01 overlay list with Doyle Avenue, Gordon Terrace, Martin Drive