by SCOTT MERZBACH
Daily Hampshire Gazette
AMHERST — A $3.1 billion Massachusetts Department of Transportation and MBTA capital investment plan includes $70 million targeted for Interstate 91 improvements, as well as money to reconstruct the intersection of Pleasant and Conz streets in Northampton, resurface Route 181 in Belchertown and rebuild Amherst Road in Pelham.
Most of the work on I-91 is part of the first phase of the so-called viaduct project through Springfield.
The local projects were described during a meeting Monday at the Bangs Community Center.
David Mohler, director of planning for MassDOT, said the state is dedicating $1.59 billion in the fiscal year beginning July 1 to the highway division, with another $1.25 billion committed in fiscal year 2017 and beyond. Mohler said this money will go toward roads, bridges, sidewalks and bicycle paths.
The Hampshire County projects scheduled to begin or continue July 1 include:
– $392,188 for the intersection of Pleasant and Conz streets, with an additional $1.83 million to be spent on this in the following fiscal year;
– $6.75 million for repaving Route 181 in Belchertown to the Palmer town line, with an additional $2.45 million to be spent in future years;
– $2.09 million for rebuilding 2.5 miles of Amherst Road in Pelham from Enfield Road to Route 202, with an additional $2.09 million to be spent in future years;
– $1.13 million for rebuilding bridges in Pelham, both on Meetinghouse Road over Amethyst Brook and Harris Brook, with an additional $1.03 million in the following fiscal year;
– $507,000 for sidewalk and wheelchair ramp construction on Route 9 in Amherst and Routes 5 and 10 in Northampton and Southampton;
– $49,990 to complete work on the 8.5 miles of the Norwottuck Rail Trail from Damon Road in Northampton to Station Road in Amherst.
The spending also includes $206 million in maintenance throughout the six highway districts across the state, with $17.2 million of that for District 2, which encompasses Hampshire, Franklin and Hampden counties.
State Rep. Ellen Story, D-Amherst, who attended the meeting, asked, “Why are we the lowest?”
Mohler explained that such spending can be cyclical and depends on projects for which each district requests funding.
Besides the $60.6 million to begin the viaduct work on I-91 in Springfield, the capital investment plan includes $3.5 million for improvements to the interstate in Holyoke and West Springfield and $4.04 million in sign replacements along the entire I-91 corridor.
Other than state officials, the only person to attend the meeting was Jeffrey LaValley, president of the Friends of the Columbia Greenway. LaValley, of Westfield, said he was on hand to ensure that the 3.2-mile elevated trail through Westfield south to Southwick will be completed.
Mohler said the state is committed to funding that greenway as part of $28.1 million from the Congestion and Air Quality Mitigation program.
Feedback received at sessions like the one at the Bangs, as well as public hearings, will be used to create a five-year plan running beginning July 1, 2016. That will be released later this year.
For people who use public transportation in Boston, the plan includes $1.05 billion for the MBTA, including $83.7 million for so-called “T winter resiliency plan” that will keep the Boston subway running throughout the winter, and $251.7 million for extending the Green Line into Somerville and Medford.
Other items in the capital investment plan include:
– $9.57 million for the Pioneer Valley Transit Authority;
– $3.9 million to purchase the Knowledge Corridor rail line;
– $60 million to move to an all-electronic tolling system on the turnpike;
– $38.6 million for the Registry of Motor Vehicles, the bulk of which will go toward upgrading the automated license and registration system.
Scott Merzbach can be reached at [email protected].
