City Engineer Mark Cressoti speaks with residents at Western Ave. Phase II public hearing Thursday. (Photo by Amy Porter)
WESTFIELD – MassDOT hosted a public hearing last week for Phase II of the Western Avenue improvement project, with about 30 residents in attendance at the Westfield Middle School auditorium.
MassDOT Project Manager Filbert Yee introduced the project, which he said is being funded at 80% by the federal government and 20% by the state, with $556,000 in non-participatory items by the city. The total budget of $8.9 million includes construction allowances, Yee said.
Regional Right of Way Coordinator Karen Axtell said the city accepted responsibility to procure the necessary rights for the project. In the current design, there is one permanent easement and 79 temporary easements, for which property owners will be contacted by the city.
Axtell said the city will ask owners to donate the easements, but donations are not required, and owners may apply for just compensation from the state. She said property owner’s rights are protected under both federal and state guidelines.
City Engineer Mark Cressotti said the Phase II hearing is a continuation of the meetings that have been held regarding Western Avenue improvements, which include the central section currently under construction. He said the federal government requires public hearing to let people know what’s coming, and how they will be impacted.
“The city has for my tenure, 30 years, not sought to just address but to go beyond and enhance the neighborhood,” Cressotti said. He said Phase II is looking to enhance the gateway to the highlands.
Cressotti said most of the easements would involve the five feet required to install the new sidewalk and multi-use path at property boundaries. He said once the construction is done, the easements would disappear.
Project Manager William Van Duzer of Milone and MacBroom then showed detailed slides of the project. He said Phase II, which is currently at the 25% design phase, includes improvements to Lloyd’s Hill Road, Western Avenue, Court Street, and West Silver Street.
Van Duzer said the first phase ends at Lloyd’s Hill, where the second phase will pick up. Initially, Lloyd’s Hill was part of Phase I.
The new design widens the right hand turn from Route 20 onto the west side of Lloyd’s Hill, where a retaining wall with a fence will be built along with an eight-foot asphalt multi-use path. The second phase will also install traffic signals at the Western Avenue end of the road.
On Western Avenue, there will be a 10-foot travel lane for traffic east and west, with a 5-foot shoulder on both sides of the road. The median island will be sloped granite curbing with no plantings.
The south side of the road will have a 5-foot concrete sidewalk.
The 10-foot multi-use concrete path on the north side of Western Avenue will continue as it turns into Court St. by Pine Hill Cemetery, where Van Duzer said they will replace any trees they take down. The path will then extend down to the intersection of Court Street, High Street, and Mill Street, where it will cross to the south side of Court V at Baystate Noble, and continue to Holcomb, where it will connect to the 8-foot existing sidewalk that goes to Park Square.
Other improvements include new stamped asphalt crosswalks and sidewalks into Holcomb Park, which sit between Court Street and West Silver Street, along with a fountain and sitting wall and arboretum style treatment of existing trees, plus new plantings where needed.
New crosswalks and changes at the end of Granville Road at the Highland Elementary School are also in the design.
The intersection of Western Avenue and West Silver will also be made into a curve, to require more of a right turn from oncoming traffic. There will be a new concrete sidewalk on the south side of West Silver, and no sidewalk on the north side of West Silver from Holcomb Park on down.
The key objective of the project is to improve overall efficiency and safety for all modes of transportation, especially for bicyclists and pedestrians. The complete list of improvements and drawings in the 25% design are available at cityofwestfield.org, under Active Projects in the Engineering Department, or available at City Hall.
Van Duzer also gave the timeline for the project. The 75% of design submission for Phase II is due in December, and 100% of design in April. Plan, specification and estimate (PS&E) approval is due in October, 2020. Phase I construction is scheduled to be completed in the fall of 2020. Project advertisement for Phase II will take place in winter of 2020, and construction is slated to begin in the spring of 2021.
Before opening the hearing to public comments, Yee said all comments would be put into the public record of the hearing. Comments will also be taken on Phase II up until Monday, Sept. 23 at 5 p.m., and may be mailed to Patricia A. Leavenworth, P.E., Chief Engineer, MassDOT Highway Division, 10 Park Place, Boston, MA 02116-3973, Attn: Roadway Project Management.
