Three large infrastructure projects are in city’s future

April 11, 2019 | G. Michael Dobbs
news@thereminder.com

SPRINGFIELD – Several long-waited public works projects – that would correct problematic intersections and traffic flows – are in various stages of planning in the city.

The head of the city’s department of Public Works (DPW) Chris Cignoli updated the status on the reconstruction of central Street, the installation of a rotary or roundabout at Maple High-Six Corners and a new intersection system at the “X” in Forest Park during an interview conducted by Reminder Publishing and Focus Springfield.

The project closet to the start of the construction is the change to Central Street. The thoroughfare will be repaved from Pine Street to the intersection of Hancock Street and re-routed. Instead of ending onto Rifle Street, creating a left-hand turns to access Allen Street, Central will shift away to incorporate Hickory Street, eliminating the Rifle Street intersection.

Hickory Street will be repaved up to Springfield College and there will be a new intersection at Hickory and Allen streets, he added.

The project came out of discussion between the neighborhood and the city after the June 1, 2011 tornado and Cignoli said the DPW has been working on it since 2013.

Cignoli explained there were three takings of private properties, which have been done, and now the city is finishing the relocation of businesses from those properties. Because the project made an impact on Ruth Elizabeth Park, federal and state approval was also necessary.  

There will also be improvements made to the Rifle Street intersections.

He anticipates construction will begin in July and will probably take 14 months.

The project will cost $3 million and funding is through Housing and Urban development. Cignoli added that Springfield Water ands Sewer will be replacing water mains in the area before the road construction can begin.

Creating a roundabout at Six Corners is another project about to start and another that came out of the tornado discussions.

“The design is complete,” Cignoli said. He added there were several properties the city had to obtain, which it has.  

 There has been a contractor selected and final details on financing are being settled, he said.

“Our goal is within the next month, they should be starting construction,” Cignoli said.

The design will be a traditional roundabout, but Cignoli said it will be much smaller than the rotaries on West Springfield, for example.

He said the city has studied the traffic there and the majority is going straight on Hancock Street.

Revising the intersection at the “X” is the third major projects. Cignoli said in studying the “X” a high amount of commuter traffic goes through the neighborhood using Belmont and Sumner avenues and Dickinson and Allen streets. There are also many pedestrians in that area, he added.

“The way the intersections are laid out now, there’s not a lot of opportunity for people to cross safely,” he said.

The study phase is complete and the city has completed the design of it at the 25 percent level. Within the next two months the city will present a public hearing.

“The goal is to move some of the traffic from the central part of the “X,’” he said.

The estimated cost is $12 million. “It’s a very, very big project,” Cignoli said.  The project is at least two year in the future from a construction standpoint.

From the design perspective, Cignoli said, “It’s extremely complicated.”

For the complete interview, go to www.youtube.com/watch?v=4vUiaC-lkZ8&feature=youtu.be

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