WESTFIELD – The Board of Public Works approved two change orders to road improvement projectslast night at the request of the Engineering Department.
City Engineer Mark Cressotti presented detail of the two contract amendments, one for Western Avenue and the other for the Feeding Hills section of the Route 187 reconstruction project, to the board members.
Cressotti requested the board to approve change order #2 for the Western Avenue project, adding $29,000 to the cost of engineering.
The state Department of Transportation (DOT) has accepted the city’s decision to break the Western Avenue reconstruction project into separate phases because the work will be funded from different sources.
Cressotti said the first phase, which will focus on the road improvement between Lloyds’ Hill Road and Bates Road, is being financed through a $2 million federal earmark originally secured to construct an access road from Route 20 to Westfield State University.
The DOT is requesting modification to the intersection of Lloyds’ Hill and Russell Road (Route 20) and the city is interested in other improvements, such as construction of a sidewalk.
“We’ve added Lloyds’ Hill to the scope of engineering service and need to get the 25 percent submission to the DOT to get this project on the books within another week or two,” Cressotti said. “This piece is using the earmarked money and is not competing with other projects in the state.”
“The next phase, the eastern piece, will be competing for funds against other communities which have projects,” Cressotti said, “so it behooves us to get that into the (DOT funding) queue.”
The board approved the $29,000 change order to the engineering consultant, Milone & McBroom of the Springfield office, to provide those additional services.
The Board also approved change order #10 to the Route 187 reconstruction project for engineering services being provided by Alfred Benesch & Company. The DOT recently selected a contractor, but has yet to issue an order to proceed to that construction company.
Cressotti said that the change order is needed because the DOT has selected Benesch to provide construction supervision for the $4.5 million Feeding Hills Road phase of the reconstruction project.
The DOT has broken the Route 187 work into three phases because of the cost of the total project. The first phase is three-quarters of a mile long and encompasses Feeding Hills Road from the Agawam city line to just short of the Old Feeding Hills Road intersection. That phase includes extensive construction of new stormwater drainage systems.
The second phase is reconstruction of Little River Road, while the third phase is the construction of a new bridge over Great Brook.
The Board approved the change order for an additional $75,800 because of the increase scope of service required for construction oversight.
