WESTFIELD – Work on the final section of phase 1 of the Columbia Greenway project, extending the rail trail from the Southwick line to East Silver Street, will be initiated as soon as the city receives official notification from the state of a $2 million grant.
The City Council voted last Thursday night to accept the grant from the Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs that has been held in limbo which the city completed an Article 97 review process with the National Park Service regarding the use of a section of the Cross Street playground for the proposed Ashley Street elementary school construction project.
Under the Article 97 appeal, brought by residents opposing the school project, the state froze all funding for park projects in the city. The Columbia Greenway is considered a linear park.
The federal agency notified the state Nov. 18 that it would accept the city’s proposed relocation and replication of the playground, thawing the funding freeze.
The $2 million grant will go to the Engineering Department for the rail trail construction project that will extend the trail north over Little River to East Silver St. That scope of work includes rehabilitation of the “Tin Bridge” over Little River and the removal and replacement of a second bridge over South Meadow Road.
City Engineer Mark Cressotti said Monday that he anticipates the city will receive official notification this week.
“If I get it this week, we’ll have enough (funding) to give the contractor notice to proceed,” Cressotti said. “The contractor has to order the steel for the bridge. If they can order it now, it should arrive in June.
“There is certainly other work to be done, but I expect most of the activity will begin this spring,” Cressotti said
Cressotti said receipt of the grant will allow the construction work to start, depending on the weather, with completion set for November of 2014 for the south portion, Phase 1, of the trail project.
The Board of Public Works voted unanimously last May to conditionally award Part 2 of the South Phase of the Columbia Greenway Rail Trail construction project to ET&L Corporation of Stow, which submitted the low bid of $2,297,538 to construct the next three quarters of a mile of the trail, work that includes extensive bridge work.
Mayor Daniel M. Knapik said Tuesday morning that he anticipates the contractor may want to “get a head start if we have a soft winter.”
“It used to be that all construction work stopped for the winter, but things have changed and the construction season is driven now by economics,” Knapik said. “All of the construction guys are hungry for work, so I don’t see them sitting idle. If they can get out in front of this project, they’ll be able to look at other jobs this summer.”
“This is an ideal time to remove brush, the foliage is gone and the ground is frozen, so if we have a soft winter and no snow, they might not want to wait,” he said.
The Columbia Greenway Rail Trail became a reality when the first 5,000 feet of the linear park were completed during Part 1 of the South Phase, extending the trail, which has been completed in Southwick, from the city line to just south of Tin Bridge.
