Updates announced for 91 construction projectsDate: 3/6/2015 AGAWAM – The reconstruction of the Interstate 91 viaduct will start in a few months, and officials used the opportunity of the monthly breakfast meeting of the Affiliated Chambers of Commerce of Greater Springfield on March 4 to brief business people about the status of the project.
The viaduct reconstruction is part of a series of projects that will all happen at roughly the same time. These include the construction of the MGM Springfield casino – including a parking garage for 2,000 cars that will be built first – and a possible renovation of the Civic Center Parking Garage this summer that would increase present capacity.
The rotary in West Springfield at the end of Memorial Avenue will also undergo reconstruction this summer.
Since there will be ramps closed on I-91, more traffic will be on East Columbus and Hall of Fame Avenues and Springfield Department of Public Works
Superintendent Chris Cignoli said there signals and intersections will be improved to accommodate the additional traffic.
On the southbound side, the Union Street ramp will be closed, while on the northbound side the State Street ramp will closed, Cignoli explained.
There will also be monitoring of traffic and additional police detail, Cignoli added. The construction company awarded the job will be responsible for having a towing company standing ready to remove any disabled cars that could impede the flow the traffic.
“We want to make sure you can get in and out,” Cignoli said.
He said he is “very, very happy about the coordination of the two projects [I-91 and MGM Springfield].”
Al Stegeman of the Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT) said the bids for the project will be opened March 24 and the contract will be awarded in April. He expects preconstruction to start in May.
He said that by using Accelerated Bridge Construction techniques and $9 million in incentives, the construction time might reduce from more than six years to more than three years. In the first stage, the area closest to the center of the highway will be replaced allowing two travel lanes on each side. In the second stage the two travel lanes in the middle of the highway with work being done on the outside.
There will be two 10-hours shift working six days a week year-round, Stegeman added.
If the work goes along with the plan, Stegeman said the viaduct would be in full use in early 2018.
A traffic study indicated that 72,000 cars using the viaduct on weekdays and 54,000 on weekends. Travel is divided in thirds between regional, to and from Interstate 291 and local trips.
Stegeman said that alerting the public to the progress of the project and traffic alerts is very important. MassDOT will be hiring a public outreach coordinator to communicate with the public through signage, email, social media and the press, he said.
Mary McNally, executive director of the Springfield Parking Authority (SPA), said that organization “is extremely aware of the problems parking poses.”
McNally said the SPA has been able to assist “many, many people” displaced with the closing of the private parking areas on Bliss Street, now part of the MGM campus.
She said there are parking spaces downtown but they might not as convenient to the courthouse and other destinations as the previous lots may have been.
The I-91 project will have an impact on the parking garages underneath the highway, she explained. She added SPA is planning for contingencies by reaching out to land owners who have potential parking areas.
She hopes to see the start of the reconstruction of the Civic Center Garage this summer. It will stay open during the work, she added. Other improvements at other garages will hopefully follow.
“For now, we just trying to manage capacity,” she said.
Chris Russell, executive director of the Springfield Business Improvement District, said, “The positive outcome for Springfield, the Valley and the region outweighs the inconveniences.”
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