Mayor Daniel M. Knapik said yesterday that the the city will receive Chapter 90 funding to be used to improve the Elm St. corridor. (Photo by chief photographer Frederick Gore)
WESTFIELD – Mayor Daniel M. Knapik said yesterday that the $1,223,726 the city will receive in Chapter 90 funding will be used to advance a two-phase project and to pave other streets in the city.
“It’s about the same as last year,” he said. “The Elm Street connector project is being done over two fiscal years.”
The $1.2 million Elm Street project connects the improvements, both roads and below ground infrastructure, made in the downtown area during the Great River Bridge project and the reconstruction of Main and Broad streets.
The project has two components, replacing a water line and paving the roadway between Church Street and the Great River Bridge construction zone. The Water Resource Department is funding half of the project, replacing the water main, while the Department of Public Works is funding the sidewalk and traffic light improvements, as well as the paving portion of the project through Chapter 90 funding. The surface of the street will be lowered under the railroad overpass, creating additional height to accommodate truck traffic.
Funding for the first phase, replacing sidewalks and installing a new water line and laterals to buildings, was funded through a portion of the city’s 2012 Chapter 90 allocation. The Water Department also financed the waterline installation.
The second phase will encompass the repaving of Elm Street and installation of new traffic signals. The Board of Public Works and the Water Commission, in a joint session held on March 13, voted unanimously to award the $1.2 million Elm Street improvement project to Jack Goncalves & Sons, Inc., of Ludlow.
Knapik said the scope of the resurfacing work has been adjusted because Goncalves & Sons is already on site with the equipment needed to lower the elevation of the road surface under the former railroad bridge.
“We’re going down pretty deep to get sufficient clearance for trucks,” Knapik said. “So they’ll begin at Franklin and around Orange streets to cut the slope down to the needed clearance.”
While that is the primary goal to accomplish with the Chapter 90 funding, there are a number of other paving and road improvement projects identified.
“We don’t know if there will be unforeseen problems with Elm Street, which could escalate the cost of that work,” Knapik said.
The timeline estimate is that Elm Street work will be completed by late summer or early fall.
“So until Elm Street is done, we won’t make a decision on other paving projects,” Knapik said. “Other priorities for Chapter 90 this year include milling and paving Thomas, Monroe and Chapel streets so that the east side of Elm Street is done,” he said. “We plan to resurface Exchange Street and Clinton Avenue.
“This will be year three of a four-year plan to resurface East Mountain Road. We’ll pave another section and finish up the repaving next year,” Knapik said.
The city is currently seeking state funding for the engineering and design of an East Mountain Road reconstruction project that will include extensive drainage and stormwater management improvements, as well as repaving. The current skim-coat work is a stopgap until state and federal funds are available for a much more extensive reconstruction project.
In Southwick, the $365,508 the town will receive will be a big help there.
“We always like to receive money from the state,” said Southwick Board of Selectmen Chairman Arthur Pinell. “We have a lot of projects and Chapter 90 funds are critical.”
