WESTFIELD – The Friends of the Columbia Greenway Rail Trail are looking for the community’s support in the next couple of days. It has just recently been announced that the funding for the completion of the rail trail in Westfield has been pushed back.
The latest year for the funding was set for 2017 and is now moved to 2019. When construction of this project began in 2012 the hope was of having a finished rail trail in 2017.
The construction work that was done on the Columbia Greenway Rail Trail last year by the Westfield River. (Westfield News File Photo)
The original cost of the entire project has been estimated at $6,784,161. Since the money has been given, supporters of the project have been committed to seeing it become a success.
“We were given money and we were working diligently to get the project going and completed and meeting those timelines,” said Westfield City Engineer Mark Cressotti.
As the rail trail has been completed up to Main St. in town, the final phase to connect the whole project is finishing up the trail from Main St. to the Westfield River.
With this section being the central phase of the project, there are five bridges from Main St. to the Westfield River that are involved with the phase.
“We need to let it be known this is an important element, an important project,” said Cressotti.
Since the project is pushed back to 2019 as of now, expressing the importance of it has become the primary issue for the Friends of the Columbia Greenway Rail Trail and its supporters.
“The concern of course is that if it keeps getting pushed back, it will never get done,” said Chairman of the Friends of the Columbia Greenway Rail Trail Joe Giffune. “We’d love to see it (project) ruled back to 2017,” said Friends of the Columbia Greenway Rail Trail member Don Podolski. “We really don’t want to see it move any further than it has.”
The view from the bike racks of the Columbia Greenway Rail Trail. (Westfield News File Photo)
This is where the many voices of the community can matter the most. The City of Westfield and the Friends would like to hear the community’s input. Any voice on the matter can help support the cause of trying to get this project finished and not delayed any further than it should.
After all, the work the City of Westfield has done for the project has been appreciated and it shouldn’t go to waste.
“The city really has done a fantastic job about being ready to get these projects moving forward,” said Giffune.
The complete deadline for the community to make a public comment on the Draft TIP is July 24. If you would like to express your thoughts or concerns on the project being pushed back to 2019, please contact the Pioneer Valley Planning Commission at their Springfield office at 413-781-6045.
