Springfield gets ready for paving projects

Get your detours ready: There will be plenty of road paving and construction in Springfield this spring and summer.

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Published April 16, 2016 in the Rutland Herald Springfield gets ready for paving projects By Susan Smallheer SPRINGFIELD — Get your detours ready: There will be plenty of road paving and construction in Springfield this spring and summer. Town Manager Tom Yennerell said Friday that subcontractors for the state Agency of Transportation completed new stop-bar vehicle detection systems this week, in preparation for cold planing on Route 11 in about a week. The state is paving the main road through town, starting on Clinton Street, going up Main Street and then following Chester Road until it hits the intersection with Park Street, a total of 2.841 miles. “They’re telling us that the milling is going to start the end of April,” Yennerell said Friday. “They started milling in Windsor first and then they’re coming over here.” The rough surface will only be in place for a short period, he said, before the first coat of pavement will be laid down. The construction crews then have to adjust all the road structures. The finished 1½ inches of final pavement will be in place by July 22, he said. “We’ll see traffic delays, for sure,” Yennerell said. “People should try and avoid the downtown area, since we only have two lanes. People would be wise to seek an alternative route.” Jackie Dagesse, an engineer with EIV Technical Services of Williston, is working with the AOT on paving projects in Springfield, Windsor, Rockingham and Chester. The four projects, which were awarded to Pike Industries, cost a total of $9.4 million. Dagesse said planing would start on the western end of the project on Route 11, work east and eventually reach the intersection of Seaver’s Brook Road and Route 11. Yennerell said a major culvert replacement project on Valley Street will require that road to be closed for 45 days. The box culvert is located near the Valley Street intersection with Litchfield Street. The detour will be on Elm Hill, he said. He said that project should start in May. Only local traffic will be allowed on Valley Street. “We have to close the street. There is no other way to do the project,” Yennerell said. Voters at town meeting approved an additional $400,000 in paving, for a total of $700,000 in new money to be spent on paving this year. He said there were some heldover funds from last year, so a total of $984,000 will be spent on Springfield roads this year — in addition to the state’s Route 11 project. The major roads to be repaved include Carley Road, Valley Street, Brook Road to the Weathersfield town line, and South Street. Yennerell said only a leveling coat will be applied to South Street, with the final coat applied next year after the South Street sidewalk project is completed. He said the new paving will start at the top of South Street and go to the first driveway of the high school. “That street has a lot of potholes and a lot of cracks,” he said. In addition to the main roads, smaller neighborhood roads in those areas will be paved.