AMHERST — Several parking spaces on Main Street are not available to downtown visitors this week while a new sidewalk is being installed at the edge of Sweetser Park.
Losing the parking spots is among the inconveniences being experienced as numerous road projects continue in Amherst this fall, among which are the resurfacing of North Pleasant Street between North Village and Fisher Street, prompting day-long detours for PVTA buses, and repaving on South East Street between Colonial Village and the South Amherst common.
With the town busier with students returning to the University of Massachusetts, Amherst College and Hampshire College, Town Manager Paul Bockelman said Amherst officials prefer to have road projects done over the summer, when possible.
“We know June, July and August are the best months, and we try to schedule construction then,” Bockelman said.
But the town can’t sign contracts until July 1 at the earliest, and even then has to work around contractors’ schedules once bids are received.
“Businesses and residents do get frustrated when it’s not as orderly as it could be,” Bockelman said.
Palmer Paving and A. Martins Construction are handling the new Main Street sidewalk, which Bockelman said will be an improvement for pedestrians, especially visitors to the nearby Emily Dickinson Museum who venture into downtown. That section of the sidewalk has been prone to large puddles and mud during rainy periods.
Although there are plans to resurface Main Street from Town Hall to Dickinson Street, that project is likely to be put off until 2019. Bockelman said part of the reason is the challenge in getting granite curbing.
To ensure that some projects can commence next spring, the town is holding back some money, including funds associated with the Main Street work, Bockelman said.
Another project just getting underway is a new multi-use path on East Hadley Road, with Taylor Davis Landscape Company removing the existing sidewalk and replacing it with a 6 to 8-foot wide multi-use path, as well as replacing the bus stops. The other ongoing projects are resurfacing various roads in the Amherst Woods section of town.
Scott Merzbach can be reached at smerzbach@gazettenet.com.
