Springfield park and ride closed for makeover

The popular park-and-ride parking lot at exit 7 off Interstate 91 is getting a $642,000 makeover.
http://www.rutlandherald.com/article/20150508/NEWS02/705089945

Springfield park and ride closed for makeover By Susan Smallheer Staff Writer | May 08,2015 SPRINGFIELD — The popular park-and-ride parking lot at exit 7 off Interstate 91 is getting a $642,000 makeover. The parking lot closed Monday for construction, which is expected to last until the end of July, according to Jacqueline Dagesse of the Agency of Transportation. Dagesse said that the current lot, which is not paved, would be expanded, improved and paved. She said the number of available parking spaces would increase from 80 to 106, which makes it the second largest park and ride along the state’s interstate system, second only to the lots in Richmond in Chittenden County. The project will also relocate a section of the popular Toonerville Trail, to give the park and ride more space. The trail will be moved closer to Route 11. The parking lot is located at the intersection of Routes 5 and 11, and is the site of a former gas station, and across Route 5 from a popular truck stop. The closing of the parking lot resulted in some last-minute work to find temporary parking spaces for those commuters who either use The Current, the regional bus system run by Connecticut River Transit, or those who park and car pool. Bob Flint, executive director of the Springfield Regional Development Corp., said Thursday he had earlier in the day signed an agreement with the state for the use of some SRDC-owned property on Clinton Street. Flint said he signed a similar agreement last Friday for another lot. The two lots are on Clinton Street and have been marked as public lots for the interim, Flint said. They include the vacant lot north of Jake’s Market and Irving gas station, across from the Jones & Lamson Machine Tool Co., and the parking lot on the other side of the road between J&L and the Robert S. Jones Industrial Center. Dagesse said the park-and-ride construction project also includes the relocation of a section of the Toonerville Trail, which runs from the Jones Center to the Connecticut River. She said the trail would be moved further north, closed to Route 11, and away from the parking lot. The parking lot, in addition to being paved, would get lighting, a bus shelter and some landscaping. The contractor for the job is Bazin Brothers Trucking of Westminster, and the firm was the lowest of seven bids for the project. Flint said the size of the park and ride, and its expansion, was a sign that more and more area residents were heading to the Upper Valley for work. He said that SRDC started getting calls this spring from residents who wanted to know where they could park and whether they could use the SRDC-owned lots. He said he got calls from both people who use The Current and those who carpool. Dagesse said the rebuilt park and ride would also include an electric car charging station. Rebecca Gagnon, executive director of Connecticut River Transit, didn’t return a call for comment.