NORTHAMPTON — Holyoke Street will stay closed until April because of missed deadlines on a sewer and paving project, and some of those affected are not happy about it.
The contractor employed by the city, George R. Cairns and Sons Inc., missed a December deadline for completing the project, and now has to wait until spring for the asphalt companies to reopen.
Still, while the heavy construction company was penalized by the city for missing the deadline, Northampton Director of Planning and Sustainability Wayne Feiden said the city is not upset with them.
“It’s not a reflection on the quality of their work,” he said.
The street was closed to facilitate the construction of a new storm sewer, as part of the Valley CDC Lumber Yard affordable housing project, replacing a storm sewer that was in place since 1846.
Originally the project was supposed to be completed and the street reopened in late fall. However, Feiden said, the date was pushed back to December, when it was discovered that a sanitary sewer that was dumping into the storm sewer needed to be fixed.
After the December deadline was missed, Feiden said that the contractor was charged for the increased costs for inspectors. He also said that the asphalt plants shutting down for the winter meant that the road could not be paved and reopened until April.
“They missed the window,” Feiden said.
At the same time, Feiden said that the city was happy with the quality of the construction company’s work.
“It’s more important that they get it right,” he said.
The closed road has been an inconvenience for Optical Studio, off Pleasant and Holyoke streets, and a number of its customers.
Mary Finn, the practice manager at Optical Studio, said that the closing of the street has impacted the businesses’ walk-in business. She also said it has confused and inconvenienced some of her customers, and that Optical Studio noted the impact of the closure in the reminders for appointments right away.
Finn said communication about the project’s status wasn’t as direct as she would have liked, particularly in communicating the issue of the effect of the asphalt plants closing for the season.
“Even if I had an update twice a month,” she said.
Finn also noted that a “road closed to through traffic” sign was on the corner until last weekend, despite the fact that access to her business and Harold’s Garage was still allowed on Holyoke Street. A sign announcing this fact was installed three weeks ago, after Finn requested it. Before this, she had attached small signs to the “road closed” sign, with the city’s permission.
“I think the signage is OK now,” she said.
Still, Finn said she would have preferred better signs and better communication in the beginning.
“That would have been good,” she said.
She also said she didn’t understand why the road couldn’t be reopened as a gravel road.
Laura Baker, real estate project manager for the Valley CDC, said delays in storm sewer construction had delayed construction on the Lumber Yard housing project for two to three months. However, for the last few months, work has been in progress on both sites.
Michael Willard, one of the owner’s of Harold’s Garage, expressed satisfaction with how George R. Cairns and Sons Inc. had communicated developments with him and ensured access for his business and Optical Studio.
“I’m really kind of impressed,” he said, saying he thought it would be a disaster.
Kingsley Avenue resident Sam Welson is one individual who has expressed frustration with the project. In comments delivered to the Gazette that he had prepared to deliver before the City Council at its last meeting, before being dissuaded by the size of the crowd, he suggests that the street could be reopened to traffic at all times except when construction requires it to be closed. He said this was both a matter of convenience and safety.
Welson said a city official had emailed him on Monday saying the DPW had determined that the street is unsafe for vehicular traffic. Welson noted, however, that he had seen construction vehicles traverse the area.
“It’s just very frustrating,” said Welson, who said it looked like the city was putting the contractors ahead of the citizenry.
Bera Dunau can be reached at bdunau@gazettenet.com.