Massive reclamation project to tie up Elm Street

Date: 6/25/2014

EAST LONGMEADOW – Local motorists should not be surprised to find increased road work-related activity on Elm Street in the coming weeks.

According to Department of Public Works (DPW) Superintendent Robert Peirent, the town is in the preparation stages of the massive reclamation project for one of the town’s major throughways, which is slated to begin in earnest on July 7.

“[Residents] may have noticed that the contractor has been completing mark out and surveying activities over the past week or two,” he said. “In addition, the town has been completing the inspection of underground utilities before in advance of the start of work.”

In addition to the preliminary work that has already taken place, residents can expect to see construction signs erected and the first stage of a multi-phase undertaking, however, that work will not affect the route of the Fourth of July parade.

“Between now and the week of July 7 I expect that Palmer Paving will be working north of Mapleshade Avenue lowering [utility] structures ahead of the road reclaiming activities,” he said. “They are holding off any work south of Mapleshade until after July 4.”

While the town has been performing overlay paving projects in other parts of town for several weeks, the Elm Street project will be the DPW’s major undertaking this year.

After the utility structures are lowered, the existing roadway will be pulverized and re-laid to create a stronger base for the roadway, a procedure Peirent and DPW Senior Project Manager Sean Kelley previously told Reminder Publications would help prevent future road failures.

Once the new foundation is laid in a process that could take a one to two weeks, the road will remain in that state for two to three weeks as the utility structures are raised again; however, the roadway would be driveable.

Asphalt would then be laid in two phases, with the possibility of short road closures during the final stage of the process.

A traffic signal improvement project at the corner of Elm Street and Mapleshade Avenue and some sidewalk improvements will take place in conjunction with the project.