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Date: 5/11/2018
AGAWAM – Agawam Mayor William Sapelli says Feeding Hills residents living on Ralph and Park St. can expect to see their road reconstructed before the snowfall.
The combined street, which is often used as a shortcut from Franklin to Colemore St., has been in “unbearable” conditions for years, according to residents. It currently serves around 15 houses and features over 200 potholes. Broken, crumbling pavement forces thru traffic to slow down, scattering gravel onto the front lawns of residents’ homes. When larger vehicles pass thru, the homes shake to the point of fracturing along the front doors. Residents say the bumpy road has affected their quality-of-life for over three years, but have seen little-to-no action from the Agawam Department of Public Works.
Homeowner Sally Griffin LaValley – who has lived on the street for over 30 years – turned to the “Agawam, MA” Facebook forum, a closed forum designed to connect residents with each other to discuss town-related events, to air her frustrations.
On April 30, she posted 10 pictures of various potholes along the road, writing: “After years of waiting the engineering department informed me that again this year Ralph and Park Street is not slated to be repaved. We counted approximately 200 potholes some measuring over 4 1/2 inches deep and others over 7 1/2 feet long. The street is a cut through to get from Springfield Street to North Street and is highly trafficked. Perhaps someone can help those of us living on the street to understand the criteria of why this road doesn’t make the cut yet again.”
Her post inspired 175 comments from other members of the forum, many of which echoed LaValley’s claims.
“I don’t think we can wait another year as this street is in really bad condition. Do you think if we could get a petition signed from the entire neighborhood and bring it to a town meeting that we could get the ball rolling. That street is very heavily traveled and it is dangerous for older folks such as myself to walk because there are no sidewalks. Something needs to be done. The patches don’t seem to work,” Marilyn Gentile commented.
Facebook user Kim Mutti Poulin added, “I agree! That street is horrible! I avoid it every day. Us taxpayers should have a say.”
LaValley said the road has been deteriorating for years now, but it wasn’t until the DPW did waterline construction a few years ago that the conditions worsened.
Although the potholes featured in LaValley’s Facebook post have since been filled, she said it is only a temporary fix – she wants a complete reconstruction. The Feeding Hills resident has reached out to the DPW multiple times in the last three years, she explained, and was recently told that Ralph and Park St. is not on the agency’s priority list for reclamation – which is the process of pulverizing a road and rebuilding it from the ground up.
“This is affecting our quality-of-life, and it doesn’t help the value of the neighborhood,” said LaValley.” If I wanted to sell my house, I’m sure anybody who wanted to buy it would be like, ‘Really?’ But overall, I just want to know what the criteria is for deciding which roads get to be fixed.”
One of the main responsibilities of the Agawam DPW is to keep the town’s streets “passable” in all weather conditions, as well as “attempt” to maintain the streets by addressing any defects and deterioration before they become too serious.
The DPW declined to comment about Ralph and Park St., however, Agawam Mayor William Sapelli informed Reminder Publications that the road would be added to the 2018 priority list.
“The reason they weren’t done sooner is the gas company had to schedule replacing the gas line. The gas lines were done recently – in February and March – and now that they’re done they are going to be put on the schedule for this year,” he said. “I have every belief that it will take place later this year, most likely in the fall.”
He added that any possible confusion could have stemmed from the gas company not knowing they would finish the utility work as early as they did.
According to the DPW’s Pavement Management Report, the street selection process for reclamation involves many factors, including pavement conditions and average daily traffic. The engineering division, DPW superintendent and mayor work together to decide which roads will be given priority. Each year, in either late winter or early spring, the program is reassessed and evaluated based on updated data, projects, budget and conditions.
Some of the other streets on the 2018 list for reclamation include:
• Haskell St. (entire length)
• Emerson Rd. (entire length)
• Wright St. (entire length)
• Walnut St. (entire length)
• River St. (entire length)
• Robin Ridge Dr. (N. Westfield St. to High Meadow Rd.)
• Beech Hill Rd. (entire length)
• High Meadow Rd. (entire length)
For more information about the DPW and their street paving and maintenance schedule, head over to https://www.agawam.ma.us/492/Pavement-Management.