WESTFIELD – The contractors of several major road improvement projects in Westfield are racing the onset of winter to complete work as the 2015 construction season comes to a close.
Work on the North Elm Street and Notre Dame Street intersection is rapidly nearing conclusion for the current season. City Engineer Mark Cressotti said it is the intention of the contractor, Baltazar Construction of Ludlow, to complete paving and sidewalk work prior to Thanksgiving.
The $4.4 million project, to widen the roadway, install new drainage and add dedicated left turn lanes, will resume next spring at the start of the 2016 construction season.
Start of that work was expected to begin earlier this summer but it was delayed because of issues with financing and securing legal access to property.
The project is being funded through a $10 million bond approved by the City Council several years ago and used to correct drainage problems, as well as repave Arch Road. The city attempted to sell more of that bond to finance the North Elm Street improvements, but the bond companies balked because that intersection was not specifically include in the scope of work to be completed with the bond money.
Baltazar, which had crews working at night to minimize impact on daytime commuters, completed that phase of work this week and is currently working to pave areas that were excavated to install the drainage system and, in some areas, relocate existing infrastructure.
Crews are also repairing and paving sidewalks that were cut as part of the infrastructure improvements.
Cressotti said that work on Franklin Street is also completed for this year and will begin again in 2016.
“We’ve spent about $300,000 so far on curbing and sidewalk improvements and I anticipate that the final cost when work is completed next year will be around $750,000,” Cressotti said.
There will be additional sidewalk improvements along the north side of Franklin Street at the Washington Street intersection. Franklin Street will then be paved between Summer Street and the intersection of Charles Street next season.
“We’ve had fits and starts on the sidewalk installation because the money is tight. It is Chapter 90 funding,” Cressotti said recently. “Next season we’ll mill the pavement down to expose the existing curbs and then pave the roadway.”
Cressotti said the work in the Gas Light District may continue into early December, depending on the weather.
The contractor, Gagliarducci Construction Inc. of Springfield, will continue work to replace sidewalks along Central Street, Cressotti said, but that the contractor will only patch the sidewalks along School Street.
“There is a lot of conduit work to be done under the School Street sidewalks during the spring construction season next year,” Cressotti said. “My understanding is that the contractor will shut down for the winter by the second week in December if the weather holds.”
The $5.9 million Gas Light District Improvement Project, which encompasses the area between Elm Street on the east, and Washington Street on the west, Franklin Street on the north and Court Street on the south, began late summer 2014.
The project also includes replacement of some, but not all, sewers, among the oldest in the city, and associated work to tie buildings and homes into the new sewer system.
The infrastructure is being upgraded to improve the quality of life for residents within the district and to position the city for economic development downtown. The work will also improve and enhance pedestrian movement between the municipal parking facilities and the city’s downtown commercial and entertainment district.
The off-street parking facilities off Arnold, Franklin and Church streets will be reconfigured and improved. Those reconfigurations will also support the Elm Street commercial and transportation projects and the eventual construction of a multistory parking garage.
A new street will be constructed through the Arnold Street municipal parking lot at an offset with Summer Street and the cut through between Church and School streets. Sidewalks are planned to be installed with bump-outs to increase pedestrian safety.
Cressotti said the present infrastructure is inadequate to support economic development and in many cases is failing, which has a directed impact on residents in the district because of the interruption of water and sewer services.
The Columbia Greenway Rail Trail work is also concluding soon for the season as the two phases now in progress are substantially complete.
Cressotti said the work to extend the rail trail from East Silver Street to Main Street, being done by ET&L Corporation of Stow, is almost complete with a few punch list items, such as installation of a kiosk and benches, remaining. Those items have been ordered, but have yet to be delivered and installed to close that $1 million phase of work.
The city also awarded a $1.1 million contract to Northern Construction Services, LLC of Weymouth, Mass., for construction of overlooks above the Westfield River which will be a key component of the Westfield River Levee Riverwalk Multiuse Trail.
The Riverwalk and Columbia Greenway intersect at the former Pioneer Valley Railroad bridge over the Westfield River. The section of the Riverwalk between Elm Street and Kellogg Street has been paved.
“There is another retaining wall that has yet to be constructed to create the plaza area of the Esplanade at the intersection of the two trails,” Cressotti said.
