WESTFIELD – The City rejected bids for construction of the next phase of the Columbia Greenway which will extend the elevated rail trail from East Silver Street to the area of Main Street and will restructure the proposed scope of work.
City Engineer Mark Cressotti said the estimate for the work was $1 million, but the low bid, submitted by ET&L Corporation of Stow, which completed the phase of work extending the rail trail from South Meadow Road to East Silver Street last summer, was $1.5 million.
“We had to reject those bids and will rebid the project with some changes. The bids were two high across the board because we included installation of a metal fence in the city’s urban center,” Cressotti said. “When we rebid that work we will bid it as a wood fence, which is what we have along the completed section of the rail trail, with a metal fence as an alternate.”
Cressotti said that ET&L, hired in January on a separate contract for construction of a bridge over East Silver Street and an underpass connecting the Hedges Avenue and Taylor Avenue neighborhoods, will continue with that work under a $700,000 contract.
The city also awarded a $1.1 million contract to Northern Construction Services, LLC of Weymouth, Mass., for construction of overlooks above the Westfield River which will be a key component of the Westfield River Levee Riverwalk Multiuse Trail.
That work will occur next to the former Pioneer Valley Railroad bridge over the river and will use existing large concrete structures which formerly supported high-tension power lines and intersects with the north phase of the Columbia Greenway project.
Rehabilitation of the railroad bridge, which includes construction of a concrete deck, is being done by the state Department of Transportation (DOT).
The North Phase, the renovation to the Railroad Bridge and approaches, is expected to cost between $2.2 and $2.5 million and will be funded as part of the dot’s statewide Transportation Improvement Program (TIP).
The DOT’s scope of work is from Cowles Court on the south to Women’s Temperance Park on the north shore of the Westfield River, about 853 feet in length. The bridge rehabilitation includes installing a new concrete deck, measuring 10 feet in width, and an ornamental fence, as well as repairing the bridge abutments and the center supporting pier. The work also includes installation of lights on the steel trusses supporting the space across the river.
Both the Northern and ET&L bridge work are being funded through a $2 million grant awarded by the state Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs. That work has to be completed by June 30, the end of the current 2015 Fiscal Year.
Cressotti said that Chapter 90 funding has been allocated for work to extend the Columbia Greenway from East Silver Street to the area of Main Street after the project is rebid by the city.
City Purchaser Tammy Tefft said that bids were also received for an on-call contractor to reset granite curbs, install sidewalks and cobble stones to create turning lanes. The apparent low bid was submitted by Gomes Construction of Ludlow.
“We have not awarded that bid yet because we’re still evaluating the bid submissions,” Tefft said.
Cressotti said that Gomes, if selected, would work on an on-call basis, but that the city plans to make improvements to the sidewalks, curbing and turning lanes using cobble stones along Franklin Street between Summer and Allen streets.
Franklin Street would then be paved under an existing contract with Lane Construction, Cressotti said.
