Springfield, Chester paving projects on hold

Springfield and Chester will likely have to wait until next year for smooth state highways.
http://www.rutlandherald.com/article/20150712/NEWS02/707129931

Additional design work for the Chester Depot grade crossing is being blamed for delays in paving projects in Chester and Springfield. Photo: Photo by Len Emery Published July 12, 2015 in the Rutland Herald Springfield, Chester paving projects on hold By SUSAN SMALLHEER Staff Writer SPRINGFIELD — Springfield and Chester will likely have to wait until next year for smooth state highways. The two towns learned last week the long-anticipated state paving work on Class 1 highways in those towns would be pushed back until 2016. A provision in the state’s contract with the paving contractor gives the company the right to set the paving schedule and gives it until July 2016 to complete the jobs. Rockingham and Windsor, however, are more fortunate. The $10.7 million paving contract was awarded to Pike Industries earlier this year, and the state Agency of Transportation contract gave Pike the right to set its own schedule. The only proviso was that the company had to finish whatever job it started in the same year. Springfield Town Manager Tom Yennerell said he was disappointed by both the state contract and Pike’s decision. “We’re not getting our Main Street paved,” Yennerell said. Yennerell said the contractor blamed additional design work needed for the rail crossing in Chester Depot for the delay. He also said Springfield has the biggest project of all four towns, and it’s complicated with numerous manholes and curb cuts. He said Windsor actually would like to delay its work on Route 5 and Route 44 until next year, until it completes its own work on the two roads. “Pike wasn’t interested,” Yennerell said, adding that the four towns had a meeting Thursday in Windsor with the contractor and the state. In Chester, Town Manager David Pisha said the town was hopping mad at the delay. The town has had to spend its own money in the past couple of years to “skim-coat” very bad portions of Routes 103 and 11 through the town. Pisha said Chester had spent about $80,000 on the roads because they had already been pushed back from the normal paving schedule. “We have fallen off schedule,” he said. “We are disappointed.” Springfield spent about $35,000 last year on Main Street, also because of very deteriorated surfaces. At Chester’s town meeting in March, when it was mentioned that Route 103 and 11 would be paved this summer, Pish said, “a great cheer went up in the hall. This is not going to be happy news.” He said the two state highways were in poor shape through town, and he fielded constant complaints about their condition. Pisha said that the rail crossing in Chester Depot, which is within sight of the town hall, is in “horrible shape,” and despite raising concerns about another year of deterioration, got no satisfaction during the meeting Thursday. The state has known for years, he said, about the poor condition of the busy rail crossing. Mike Fowler, a paving design engineer with the Agency of Transportation, said Pike was the only bidder for the contract, which will likely come to $10.7 million. He said discussions were underway on whether Windsor would be removed from this year’s list, but he referred comment to another engineer, Ann Gammell, who couldn’t be reached Friday. “We’re not sure where we’re going to end up, because Windsor requested to be deferred. We’re not sure,” Fowler. said He said Chester is slated to have 2.5 miles of road paved; Springfield, 2.878 miles; Rockingham, 1.49 miles; and Windsor, 4.13 miles. The costs break down to $2.95 million for Springfield, $1.45 million for Rockingham, $2.45 million for Windsor, and $2.6 million for Chester, Fowler said, stressing they were estimates. In Springfield, Yennerell said, Route 11 would be paved from Seavers Brook Road to Hospital Hill, where Route 11 intersects with Park Street. River Street, as Route 11 is locally known, will also be paved. Neither Rockingham Town Manager Chip Stearns nor Windsor Town Manager Tom Marsh could be reached Friday. In Rockingham, Route 5 will be paved. Fowler said Windsor wanted to complete sidewalk work and other federally funded work related to Tropical Storm Irene before repaving the two main routes in town. But whether Pike goes along with that remains to be seen, he said. Fowler said the Chester Depot rail crossing alone will cost $800,000, which he said would entail a reconstruction and rail signal upgrades, as well as a “completely new surface.” “It’s a project within a project,” he said.