Safety issues put spotlight on Olney-Morton Street intersection

Date: 8/4/2010

Aug. 4, 2010

By Debbie Gardner

Assistant Managing Editor

SPRINGFIELD -- Mayor Domenic Sarno, Ward 2 City Councilor Clodo Concepcion, Olney Street residents and representatives of the city's Department of Public Works (DPW), Fire Department, Housing Division and Law Department met last Thursday to review improvements to the Olney Avenue -- Morton Street intersection and discuss the next step in addressing an ongoing dust issue in the neighborhood.

Through the efforts of Concepcion, two trees at the intersections of the streets have already been removed and no parking signs installed along Olney Street immediately adjacent to the intersection, allowing fire vehicles to more safely access Morton Street in the event of an emergency.

Four homes are situated on Morton Street, which is a 20-foot wide unpaved private way. According to Fred Shubrick of 6 Olney Ave., a spokesperson for the neighborhood, when homes were constructed on Morton approximately 15 years ago buyers were told by the builder that the street would eventually be paved.

"That was three mayors ago," he said. "There were idle promises made, but no follow-up."

Shubrick, who has lived in the neighborhood since 2006, said in the past the DPW would grade Morton with dirt and gravel mixture he referred to as hardpack twice a year. Recently, he said the grading has been done with a dirt mixture that flows onto the paved surface of Olney Avenue during heavy rains. In dry weather the dirt is dragged onto the street by passing cars, creating a constant dust problem.

Shubrick's six-year-old daughter suffers from asthma, and he said the constant dust is a health issue for her. Other neighbors, particularly those on Morton Street, complain about dust infiltrating their homes on a constant basis.

Calling the complaints "a quality of life issue," Mayor Sarno said he "couldn't speak for what happened in the past, but I want to move forward" on addressing the problems with Morton Street.

According to Allan Chwalek, director of the DPW,, the width of Morton Street -- 20 feet as opposed to the 50-feet required -- prevents residents of Morton Street from petitioning the city to have their street declared a public way. He acknowledged that to permanently alleviate the dust problem, Morton street requires additional footage, the installation of an underground drainage system to control water ponding on road surfaces and in residents' yards and paving.

"No material short of paving will eliminate the dust," he said, adding that to help mitigate the immediate dust problem the DPW could come out and re-grade the road with hardpack. He cautioned, however that because of the amount of material already on the roadway, grading must be done in a way that would not create drainage problems for the front yards of Morton Street residents or for the backyards of abutters across the road.

David Cotter, deputy director of code enforcement for the city's housing division, said his department had also already been in contact with neighbors whose backyards abut Morton Street, alerting them of their responsibility to cut back overgrowth that had spilled onto the street, narrowing the travel lanes. He said many had complied. Sarno suggested that the Clean City crews might be employed to complete the work.

To create a roadway wide enough to be considered a public way and thus paved, Chwalek said the DPW would need to take approximately 10 feet from the front yards of Morton Street residents, creating a 30 foot wide roadway. The last cost estimate to pave the street came in at $200,000, including the cost of moving utility poles and fire hydrants.

City Solicitor Edward Pikula said the residents would formally have to petition to have the city accept Morton Street as a public way for the DPW to begin exploring the paving issue.

"If they're willing to give up their land, then [the DPW] can do it," Pikula said.

If the residents were to agree to the provisions, monies for this project must come from city funds. Because Morton Street is a private way, Chapter 90 monies funding provided to Springfield by the state and federal governments for road improvements cannot be used to make this change.

Acknowledging that the city now has a temporary plan for the Olney Avenue -- Morton Street neighborhood, Sarno said the next step would be to "make a long-term plan and find the money" to move forward with any additional improvements.

Concepcion said he hoped there would be preliminary information on the ongoing improvements available in time for the next Pine Point Civic Association meeting, scheduled for Sept. 14 at 335 Berkshire Ave.