A large crane removes a structural support beam from the old railroad underpass on East Silver Street yesterday as part of the Columbia Greenway Project. (Photo by Frederick Gore)
WESTFIELD – Two cranes towered into the sky over the city yesterday, used to remove the former railroad bridge spanning East Silver Street and to remove the temporary sidewalk providing pedestrian access to and from Prospect Hill during the reconstruction of the Pochassic Street (Drug Store Hill) Bridge.
City Engineer Mark Cressotti said the East Silver Street Bridge was removed as part of the current construction phase of the Columbia Greenway project which will extend the rail trail from the current terminus just south of the Tin Bridge across Little River to East Silver Street.
The Board of Public Works voted to award Part 2 of the South Phase of the Columbia Greenway Rail Trail construction project to ET&L Corporation of Stow. ET&L 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.
“The bridge was removed as a change order to the rail trail contract,” Cressotti said. “We incorporated $77,000 into the contract for the bridge removal.”
The project bid included construction of a trail along a former railroad spur servicing Commercial Distributing Corp. and the former Strathmore Paper plant, both on South Broad Street. The city was negotiating with Sullivan Transportation, the current owner of the former Strathmore plan and the rail spur, to purchase that land for a bicycle access. But that negotiation has stalled while Commercial Distributing negotiates using that property for an expansion.
The City Council has approved the first reading for a much smaller land taking that will provide access from the train to Coleman Avenue. The second reading and final passage of that order of taking is expected to occur at the June 5 City Council Session.
The city substituted the bridge removal for the spur construction and still has a credit of $280,000 because of the change of scope.
A new East Silver Street Bridge will be constructed as part of the central phase of the Columbia Greenway project. The Middle Phase of the rail trail from East Silver Street to Orange Street, which includes replacement or improvements to six bridges, is being financed from a different funding source, Cressotti said.
The cost of that phase is estimated at $6.7 million because of the number of bridges involved. The bridges over East Silver, Main, Thomas, Chapel and Orange streets will be replaced. The Elm Street Bridge is being preserved.
East Silver Street residents and employees of Coleman Avenue companies watched the contractor dismantle the former railroad bridge as the crane lifted I-beam pieces onto the rail trail staging area. The steel cable of the crane were just several feet from power lines cross East Silver Street next to the bridge.
One resident commented that the bridge removal will result in an increase of truck traffic as truckers begin to use the East Silver Street/Noble Street corridor as a cut through to avoid downtown traffic.
Another resident countered that residents living near the bridge will no longer be awakened by the frequent impact of trucks slamming into the bridge.
The $2.6 million Pochassic Street Bridge reconstruction work is being performed by R. Bates & Sons, Inc., of Clinton, and included construction of a temporary pedestrian bridge From Montgomery Street down over the railroad tracks to Old Pochassic Road in front of Tierney Insurance at the old depot.
Yesterday a crane was used to lift a large steel support structure used in the temporary pedestrian bridge onto the newly reconstructed bridge.
“The sidewalk of the new bridge is open for pedestrian traffic and the city is anticipating a June opening for vehicular traffic, Cressotti said.
