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Date: 9/8/2022
HILLTOWNS – Chester and Huntington are among nine Hilltown communities participating in a program that helps pay for culvert improvements on local roads that cross tributaries flowing into the Westfield River.
Developed by the Wild and Scenic Westfield River Committee (WSWRC), work undertaken under this assistance program will complete the first step to upgrade road-stream crossings that have been identified as inadequate. The committee will fund field work, flow modeling, concept designs and prepare grant applications that will help towns to further develop the upgrade.
According to the WSWRC, failing and inadequate road-stream crossings pose safety issues related to flooding and erosion that negatively impact the function and connectivity of the river. The program is a direct outgrowth of evaluations of crossings in the watershed that were done in 2015 by the committee’s summer interns.
Interns identified more than 35 “priority crossings” to provide data that the committee used to launch a successful pilot culvert assistance program for the more than 78 miles of the upper section of the Westfield River, which is designated as a National Wild and Scenic River.
This designation recognizes the river’s outstanding features, including high quality waters, abundant cold-water habitat, excellent recreational opportunities, critical riverine and riparian habitats, and multiple scenic, cultural and historic sites.
The culvert assistance program will help preserve those qualities while assisting Chester and Huntington with upgrading inadequate local road crossings. The other towns participating in the program are Chesterfield, Cummington, Middlefield, Savoy, Washington, Windsor and Worthington.
“The goal, in addition to completing the field and design work, is to eliminate resource burdens on our already overtaxed towns,” said Cindy Delpapa, chair of the WSWRC.
In Chester, there were five stream-road crossings identified in the pilot program: Abbott Hill Road over Abbott Brook; Lyman Road over Roaring Brook; Ingell Road over Abbott Brook; Roundhill Road over Blair Brook; and East River Road over an unnamed tributary of Day Brook. Of these, the Abbott Hill Road crossing was selected for the current culvert assistance program.
In Huntington, four stream-road crossings were identified in the pilot program: Two Bromley Road crossings of an unnamed tributary to the East Branch of the Westfield River; Cullen Hill Road over Pond Brook; and Goss Hill Road over Sykes Brook.
The tributary crossing on the eastern section of Bromley Road – the culvert closer to Route 112 – was chosen for the assistance program.
Jennifer Peloquin, administrative assistant to the Huntington Selectboard, said town funds “are very limited,” so “we welcome any assistance we can receive.”
She said the Bromley Road crossing was recommended by the highway superintendent and Selectboard from the list of eligible crossings, since it was the one that needed replacement the most. Peloquin added that the WSWRC is funding the design work and a substantial grant application for the town:
“There should be no cost to taxpayers. We’re grateful for their assistance.”
Peloquin said that by providing this service, the WSWRC is giving the town materials it wouldn’t ordinarily have to fund grant applications.
Delpapa said that problems with each of the crossings involved in this program vary. However, none of them meet current Army Corps of Engineers crossing standards of 1.2 times bankful width – generally, the size needed to accommodate the flow during a large storm.
She explained that large flood flows may result in localized flooding, water topping the road and, in some severe cases, washouts of existing culverts.
According to Delpapa, undersized crossings also result in “poor connectivity between the upstream and downstream river segments.” That impacts aquatic species, free flow of the stream, safe passage for wildlife, and often results in erosion and other signs of bank instability.
She said the committee focuses on the free flow of the “wild and scenic” river or stream, restoring or protecting habitat, protecting or improving water quality, supporting a healthy aquatic ecosystem, and enhancing the river scenic qualities.
“These are attributes that are the basis of the upper Westfield River and its tributaries. Fortunately, all of these attributes intersect with the interests and concerns of our Wild and Scenic towns to maintain safe crossings able to pass storm flows without flooding and to be structurally adequate,” said Delpapa.
The costs to design, permit, and construct a new upgraded crossing vary, since each crossing is different.
“The work the committee is advancing this year works out to about $30,000 to $35,000 in services to complete a survey, do a thorough assessment of conditions, and do some flow modeling to ascertain the needed passage size for flood flows,” said Delpapa.
She said invasive species will be mapped by committee interns to determine viable upgraded crossing options and potential green infrastructure options and provide a recommended conceptual design, and provide an estimate of probable costs for the steps needed to move the project to completion.
Additionally, the WSWRC will compile the information in a technical memo for each town, provide a technical review of all materials and consultants, and will draft an appropriate grant application to advance the project work for the towns to submit to advance the project to the next level.
“One of the advantages of the committee leading this effort was the bundling of many culverts across the towns allowing for cost savings and also making the project larger – and more attractive to consulting companies. The committee, recognizing the resource and time limitations of our small Hilltowns, is not only funding the consultant company doing the work, it is also managing the entire process and project,” explained Delpapa.
The WSWRC chair said the committee works to protect, enhance, and steward the designated segments of the Westfield River and its tributaries. The committee is made up of representatives from watershed partners and the 10 towns in the Wild and Scenic district, which include the nine towns participating in the culvert program as well as Becket.
Delpapa added that the federal Wild & Scenic Partnership Rivers Program is administered by the National Park Service and the WSWRC has a park service staff member assigned to assist the committee with its work to protect the “outstandingly remarkable values” that earned the upper Westfield River its designation nearly 30 years ago.