Construction Update

Post date: May 10, 2018 7:44:33 PM

While construction has felt like a way of life for the past 2+ years, the past few weeks have been especially challenging and I think many of us are experiencing some level of construction fatigue. We knew that getting to the point of having a new and expanded parking lot and through the installation of a massive stormwater collection system would not be without it's pain points as these are both massive projects. None of these projects are Town government projects, but clearly they all impact our right of way and streets. In particular, the Police Department has worked closely with each of these to try to provide a safe environment. And all projects have heeded that guidance. Given the dynamic nature of some of these projects, conditions have sometimes changed over the course of a day or a few hours with things being open and closed; which, while signed, can clearly create some short term confusion and delays.

Spring Street Lot (College) - paving is to be completed by May 18. Various sections will be open and closed as the entire lot is paved. Notable that access will be via Walden Street. Full notice from the College attached below. By the weekend, the parking lot will be back to being open through Spring Street to Walden Street. This also means that the opening day of the Farmers Market will be in the parking lot on Saturday May 19 from 9-1.

Latham Street (College) - the current plan is that Latham Street will be open to pedestrian and vehicle traffic at the end of the day on May 18. Moving forward, there will still be construction activity in Latham Street, but the road will no longer be closed. Meacham Street will not be closed, but there will be an adjusted traffic pattern that will route vehicles through parts of the Facilities parking lot. There will be a signage installed suggesting local traffic only.

Water Street (State) - most of the work right now is utility preparation work with the balance of the work being in the fall. There have been 2 things happening often at the same time over the past several weeks. C&A (the state's General Contractor) has been working on catch basin structures and have had various openings and repaving of trenches across the street. Additional drainage work was completed under the eastern sidewalk areas (why they have been removed and eventually temporarily repaved.

At the same time, Berkshire Gas is installing a new 4" mainline up the street (this has been the trenching work creeping up the street to Main Street), requiring one way traffic around their work trench areas. They have been patching as they have been going along and will likely have some additional paving around the patched areas. Once the new line is completed and connected to the main, they then will go back and start installing new service lines to buildings. And at various intervals, National Grid will be out working at a few different pole locations along the job.