Work crews on Fawn Ln. in Westfield begun the first steps of preparing for this year’s sewer construction in the Ridgecrest neighborhood. (WNG file photo)
WESTFIELD – The City of Westfield’s Sanitary Sewer Project in the Ridgecrest neighborhood began on Monday with mobilization of equipment and preparing work zones.
City engineer Mark Cressotti said the sewer and road improvements will continue through the year with an anticipated completion date in the late fall of 2018. He said crews generally work from 7 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. weekdays.
The construction will begin at Fawn Lane and move up the hill. Detours are expected throughout the duration of this project. This spring and summer the sewers will be extended to all of Fawn Lane, Bigwood Drive, and Blueberry Ridge. GEG Construction is doing the work and will be contacting home owners to coordinate their future sewer service locations.
“The hardest part is ahead of us,” Cressotti said, because Fawn Lane is the deepest and most difficult, and cuts off one of the three access points to the neighborhood. He admitted that sewer projects are disruptive, because it involves replacing the road, and looking at defects in the storm water system. Resident questions and concerns may be directed to Engineering Department at (413) 572-6219, according to the announcement.
Mark Cressotti will be on The Westfield News Radio Show Thursday April 5 from 6-8am. The show can be heard on 89.5fm seen on Comcast public access channel 15 or streamed online at either www.wskb.org or www.westfieldtv.org.
The sewer expansion is part of a larger effort by the City of Westfield begun under a $20 million bond approved by the City Council in 2014, to be repaid from sewer revenue. Sewer rates were also increased in 2015, to help pay for the needed improvements.
Ward 5 Councilor Robert A. Paul, Sr.
Ward 5 Councilor Robert A Paul, Sr. said the sewer project is “an important program for the city and Ward 5.” He said installing sewers has a negligible impact on the environment and on the soil.
Paul also said the $20 million bond that was approved is for all the Wards. Ward 6 and the pumping station at Westfield High School were completed last year, along with Gary and Kelly Drive in Ward 5, which Paul said has the least amount of public sewer hookups in the city. Approximately, $7 million of the bond has been rolled out for ongoing projects, according to Paul.
“What’s also important is that we continue to finish the Plantation project – two more homeowners septic systems are failing,” Paul said. He said the engineering work for the project is completed, and the pumping station was promised to go in this spring.
“The pressure is still on, and it’s important,” Paul said, who added Pine Ridge should be engineered and also started this year. “Last year, we had the water and sewer process figured out,” he said.
