Huntington Highway Superintendent Charles “Chip” Dazelle. (WNG File photo)
HUNTINGTON – Highway Superintendent Charles “Chip” Dazelle announced that the town has been granted the additional $100,000 he requested over the summer from MassDOT for the Searle Road bridge project.
At its August 8 meeting, Dazelle told the Board of Selectmen that the $300,000 Small Bridges grant from MassDOT that the town received last year was thought to be enough to repair and paint the bridge deck, after a preliminary review by Gil Engineer and MassDOT inspectors.
Dazelle said the bids came in higher than anticipated at $298,000, which did not leave enough funds to pay for the engineering study and inspector, and he had asked for an additional $50,000 from MassDOT.
Then, after further study by the engineer, Dazelle was told that for an additional $25,000, they could replace the whole super structure of the bridge, including the deck, beams and side rails. The new plan also requires another $25,000 for the engineer, which upped his request to $100,000 to MassDOT.
Dazelle said the grant now totals $400,000 for the Searle Road bridge project. “They’re saying they’re still going to have it done by November,” he said, and are just waiting for MassDOT to give their “ok” on the plans for the structural steel.
Meanwhile, the Huntington highway crew plans to blacktop and mill 4,000 feet of Searle Road from the bridge to the Norwich Lake Association Road at McKinney’s Farm in October. The work on Searle Road is being done by Chapter 90 funds. Dazelle said he only received $160,000 in Ch. 90 funds this year, which doesn’t allow him to do very much. The first part of Searle Road from Route 66 and Cullen Road were completed last year.
Dazelle’s plans for next year’s Ch. 90 funds, which he is always hoping will increase, include beginning the reclamation of Goss Hill Road. He said the road will have to be done in sections, and next year they will work on drainage and some milling. Also on the list is Allen Coit Road, which he said will be reclaimed in the next couple of years. Both roads need to be totally reground, and a new base put on top, Dazelle said.
Also next year, with a $408,000 Community Development Block grant awarded to Huntington over the summer, the town will replace the water main and resurface the road on Aldrich Avenue.
In addition, Dazelle has a $1 million grant request in to MassWorks for Route 66/Pond Brook Road, one he has been trying to get for three years. That grant would cover the three miles of Route 66 in Huntington, to redo the catch basins and mill and fill the road. He said he should hear in November or December whether the town will received the grant.
