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Date: 6/5/2015
LONGMEADOW – The town has been awarded a $2.8 million grant from the Joint Transportation Committee of the Pioneer Valley Planning Commission (PVPC) to begin a roadwork improvement project on Converse Street from Dwight Road to Laurel Street slated to begin this fall.
Department of Public Works (DPW) Director Michael Wrabel told Reminder Publications the grant would allow to the town to complete paving, add granite curbing, sidewalk installations, milling, and other repairs.
“We will put in handicap accessible ramps along the length of the project and we will close the gaps so there is a sidewalk that goes from Laurel Street all the way up to just shy of Dwight Road,” he added.
Wrabel said the project would likely go out to bid this September. The entire project is anticipated to take a year to complete.
“They’ll maybe so drainage work, maybe some sidewalk work this fall,” he added. “The roadwork, itself, would take place next year.”
The designs have been completed by the town and the project would be administered by the state, Wrabel said.
Converse Street is the “busiest street in town,” he noted.
“There’s a lot of truck traffic [and] there’s a lot of commuter traffic from East Longmeadow, Hampden, the Stafford Springs [CT] area going to [Interstate] 91 North and Springfield ... When the road is in poor condition, traffic does not flow efficiently as it should,” Wrabel said.
The project would not have been possible without Town Engineer Yem Lip, who has been working to make the road improvements a reality during the last three years, he added.
The construction of the new Blinn Tennis Courts is also slated to begin this July, Wrabel said. The contractor, Vermont Recreation, has 90 days to complete the project and there’s a “push” to get the courts finished before the 2015-2016 school year begins.
The design was completed in house by the town’s engineering staff, he added. The existing courts will be removed and 12 new courts will be constructed. The project will also include new fencing, pavement, and lighting.
“There’s a coach’s box that’s being added,” Wrabel said. “There would be an area where a coach can be out of play, but close.”
The $793,000 project took several years to fund with an initial bid that came back $217,000 more than what the project was appropriated for in August 2014.
Initial funding came from $375,000 approved by residents at the 2014 Annual Town Meeting and $180,000 from the General Fund. The project was approved for an additional $200,000 in Community Preservation Act money at the Nov. 8, 2014 Special Town Meeting.
The DPW will also work on other roads throughout town in conjunction with its five-year plan, Wrabel said. One roadwork project is anticipated to take place during the month of June on Laurel Street from Converse Street to Ardsley Road.
The roadwork will include crack sealing joints, paving a leveling course, raising structures, road shimming, road milling at intersections, repaving of driveway aprons, improvements to drainage and sewer systems, as well as final paving.
Paving preparation began the week of June 1 and will continue until the week of June 15. Final paving is scheduled to take place the week of June 22.
Laurel Street will allow one lane traffic flow from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. To report any problems or concerns, call the DPW at 567-3400.