MARK CRESSOTTI
WESTFIELD – Meeting remotely, Legislative & Ordinance chair William Onyski and Councilors James Adams and Michael Burns June 3 recommended a sidewalk in front of Walmart.
City Engineer Mark Cressotti submitted a resolution of the City of Westfield for extension of sidewalks by Walmart. Cressotti explained that in the process of doing the traffic signal improvements at Route 20/Springfield Road, there was an excess in funding of $400,000. The funds can only be used for project-related expenses, and if not used, would be returned to the state.
Cressotti said the city looked at other needs in the corridor, settling on the sidewalk right before Walmart. He said there is currently a beaten path used by pedestrians, and installing a sidewalk there had been left off of the original proposal. Cressotti said MassDOT has approved this project for the remainder of the funding.
The majority of the sidewalk is state right of way property, except for a small gap of three feet where that right of way ends and Walmart property begins. The resolution addresses the three-feet gap in order to connect the sidewalk to the parking lot of the store, and is required because state funds will be used on that portion, which is private property.
Onyski asked whether there is land involved that the city needs to obtain. Cressotti said there is no interest in real estate, and that the development agreement just speaks to spending public money on private property to a very small extent. He said no funding from the city is required for the sidewalk, which will take up most of the remaining $400,000.
Onyski asked whether there would be any funding left over after the sidewalk project, and Cressotti said about $10,000. “If we don’t spend it, we lose it,” Cressotti said.
“Was there anything else we could have spent the money on, and whose decision was it,” Adams asked.
Cressotti called it a “mixed bag.”
“It had to be approved by MassDOT and Walmart. A lot of hands and decision makers were at this. The monies couldn’t be spent just anywhere; only for the specific purpose of the grant,” Cressotti said.
Cressotti said the city did reallocate a bond to associate certain monies with this project. “We only used less than $200,000 of that allocation, (on items) that we could not get reimbursement for from the grant. The city’s investment on this project is $200,000 for a $2 million project,” he said.
“I think this is a really good undertaking, and beneficial for the city. It falls in line with MassDOT policy for providing pedestrian access,” Cressotti added.
“I go by this every day, and there are always people walking from Walmart into Westfield,” Onyski said, before the subcommittee voted 3-0 to recommend the resolution to the City Council to take up during its June 4 meeting.
The traffic light is currently installed. Once the construction is done, a trial period will start for the signal. Normally, it starts with a flashing light to make people aware there’s a light there, Cressotti said after the meeting, adding that the sidewalk is currently under construction.
