WESTFIELD – Engineering and environmental consultants presented the Conservation Commission with environmental impacts of the drainage and stormwater plan for the Feeding Hills Road reconstruction and improvement project.
Daniel McCormack of Alfred Benesch and Company (Benesch) said the Route 187 project has been divided into three phases. The $4.5 million first phase is three-quarters of a mile long and encompasses Feeding Hills Road from Agawam to just short of the Old Feeding Hills Road intersection. Each phase is being presented separately for permit application and review.
Benesch was retained by the city to design the road reconstruction project, while the actual construction effort will be funded by through state and federal transportation improvement programs (TIP).
McCormack and Mary Trudeau, an environmental scientist, presented details of proposed drainage system and three culverts replacing inadequate existing structures, and the environmental impact of those improvements.
McCormack said the existing Feeding Hills Road was constructed without a drainage system and relies on sheet flow to drain water off the roadway and onto abutting properties.
The road improvement plans include four independent sections of the new closed drainage system, each section dedicated to stormwater collection in a specific section of the road, depending on topography.
“The four closed drainage systems collect water from basins,” McCormack said. “Each system has some sort of treatment system.”
“There are 30 catch basins and all have an extra deep sump. The standard is a three-foot deep sump, but the DOT (state Department of Transportation) calls for four-feet deep sumps to collect dirt, sand and sediment, which is the first level of treatment,” McCormack said.
The outflows of the drainage systems are also designed to have minimal environmental impact. with additional filtering before the water is discharged.
The drainage is combined with the replacement of three culverts, including the installation of two six-by-six foot box culverts, one for an intermittent stream and the other for a perennial stream and the installation of a pipe. That work will include the installation of more robust retailing walls, as well as stabilizing banks of stream beds and areas of wetland replication.
The roadway will be widened to allow for the addition of five-foot shoulders.
The Conservation Commission voted to continue the public hearing to its July 23 session and to conduct site visits during the week of July 15-19.
