| Depot Road Bridge Detour Project by Jen Shenk 
The Golden Gate Bridge, spanning some of the most treacherous waters in the country, is 1.7 miles long and was completed in 4 years. March 8, 2010 They completed the pile driving operation last week. This was the major piece of work that was required so that they could begin constructing the foundation and abutment on the south side. They have been evaluating the schedule to see when they might be able to open the bridge to traffic (not complete the project, but allow cars to cross). Although this project has taken a verrrry long time, I am encouraged that it looks like we're within a few months of being able to cross that bridge. February 25, 2010 The contractor has been working at the site, and seems to have completed a fair portion of the sub-structure on the northerly side of the bridge. They also brought in some equipment to dig through the boulders at the south side - that were in the way of the pile driving. Let's hope that the pile driving contractor will be here very soon to get that operation started -- once the remaining piles are in the ground, they will be able to put together a realistic estimate for completion. February 10, 2010 From MASS DOT: The contractor (Tasco Construction) has committed to working through the winter - with a goal of opening the bridge as close to the original completion date as possible (June 2010). This is possible, but it will depend on our success with installing the remaining piles - and having no 'unknown' situations occur during the remainder of the construction.
The current work includes pouring concrete at the northerly bridge abutment and some site prep for upcoming work - which will include digging out boulders at the south abutment prior to pile driving.
We do not have a firm date to start the pile driving operations at the south side yet. The contractor wants to dig out the obstructions first - as the results of this will determine what equipment the pile driving contractor needs. If there are still boulders that he can't reach or remove, then we will drill through everything and place the piles (much more expensive). Other than that, Tasco did some cleanup recently on the south side - at the request of abutters.
January 18, 2010 From Mike Hartnett, MASS DOT "Since meeting with you all at the Westminster Town Hall, we have made the following progress. The Contractor, Tasco Construction, has been on-site working to prepare the area for a concrete pour for one of the bridge abutment footings. The owner has stated that he will stay on site to progress the work (weather permitting).
MassDOT has notified the contractor that he can resume pile driving operations, with the proposal for drilling through obstructions being an acceptable method. Payment for 'out of scope' work has been conditionally guaranteed - as long as certain requirements are met." January 11, 2010 If you are reading Westminster Vine from another town or state, you may not be familiar with the Depot Road Bridge. This was a very small bridge that many people didn’t even notice was a bridge until the day it closed. Imagine getting off of route 2 at exit 27 and trying to go to Oakmont, Monty Tech, Fitchburg, Ashburnham, etc. Just after Willard Road you will be met with a sign and fence that blocks the road. In order to get ‘to the other side’, you have to either get back on route 2 east and take route 31 through Fitchburg or take exit 25 in Westminster and double all the way back past the Old Mill. While annoying as this detour is for some, it is threatening the livelihood of several small local businesses. The Depot Road Bridge Detour Project is projected to take about 500 days (it is a very small bridge), and as expressed at Selectmen’s meetings, local small businesses are suffering, and a group of people was specifically gathered to have a thoughtful meeting, rather than a boisterous complaining meeting, and have committed to working on speeding things up. The '500 days' number does not include an extension that has been discussed, but not yet been applied for. On Monday, January 11th I was in a meeting with a group of people who have committed to making a difference in getting the stalled Depot Road Bridge Project moving along. Attendees included Lew Evangelidis (State Representative), Carly Antonellis (District and Communications Director for State Senator Jennifer Flanagan), Karen Murphy (Westminster Town Coordinator), Laila Michaud (Westminster Selectman), Chris Bjurling (owner of Depot Package and General Store), Tammy Cirillo and Jay Martin (owners of Brook Bound Nursery and J. Martin Landscaping), Michael Hartnett and Lisa Spezzaferro-Pelletier (Massachusetts Department of Transportation), Josh Hall (Westminster DPW Director) and Will Ahearn (Westminster Highway Superintendent). We met to discuss the delays in this project, but more importantly to brainstorm what could be done to minimize the impact of the bridge project on local businesses and residents. In a nutshell, I’d say the Mass DOT people (Mike and Lisa) were reasonable and listened to our concerns. There was much discussion about weather delays and utilities issues, but the bottom line is at this point we are stuck in the middle of a construction slowdown/stoppage during lousy weather and paperwork is floating around for payment. Contractors are notorious for wanting to have a written guarantee that they’ll be paid. When asked about the recent news story about Tasco Construction being called into Mass DOT to explain their significant use of subcontractors, Mike Hartnett explained that the rule is that on state jobs general contractors are required to do at least 51% of the work on a project and can subcontract up to 49% of the work on a particular job. Mass DOT reviewed the Depot Road Bridge Project and questioned the amount of subcontracted work. At the hearing, Tasco assured Mass DOT that they would be performing 51% of the work. Lew questioned whether the spotlight on this 51%/49% aspect of the project contributed to the slowdown and 5 months added on to the project because Tasco would be required to fit it in their schedule as opposed to subcontracting. He was told that, no, the delays were caused by other reasons. Mike Hartnett said that in some cases Mass DOT will pay extra for the worker hours needed to expedite a project, but in this case, he didn’t think paying for the extra hours would change the completion date. No one in the room thought 500 days was reasonable and, in fact, with this latest delay it looks to be more like 700 days. Mike Hartnett explained that the number of days assigned to a project is based on a formula that includes the cost of the job, among other factors. According to the contract with Tasco, the project completion date is June 6, 2010, but due to the issues with obstructions (very large rocks), it is very likely they will be granted an extension on the completion date. Chris Bjurling (Depot Package) had two observations on this. First, this is New England, why weren’t more test borings done to determine that, yes, in fact there are obstructions? Second, he pointed out that in the private sector an employee would be fired or the company would go out of business if it was run like this project has been. Chris also said that he knew when he first read about this bridge closing that there would be a period of pain for his business, but there is a big difference between a period of pain lasting 6 months and one lasting almost three times that long. Lisa Pelletier (Mass DOT) commented that we are all concerned about the Depot Road Bridge but that there is another equally frustrating bridge project going on over on the other side of town, on route 12, with the attending utilities delays, etc. Selectman Laila Michaud commented that she does live near that bridge and of huge note is that the project on route 12 has one lane open. While acknowledging that it would be an inconvenience to be down to one lane, Depot Package Store owner Chris Bjurling said he would have considered it a gift to have one lane open across the Depot Road Bridge. I asked about the ‘Accelerated Bridge Program’ that I had seen on the state website, and if there was somehow any advantage to be gained by that designation, and could we get it? Mike Hartnett (Mass DOT) explained that, alas, that program doesn’t actually accelerate the completion of any proiects. It just moved bridge projects that were supposed to start in 5 to 7 years and started them earlier. The general feeling at the meeting was that something has to be done. Chris Bjurling stated that he employs five people, is operating the store and living off of savings since he started saving for this inevitable slowdown in business over two years ago. However, with the revised date speculated to be ‘late fall 2010’, Chris said he didn’t know if he’d be able to survive until then. Mike Hartnett said that Tasco has been reasonable and has purchased, at their own expense, a ground heater to melt the frost so that they can drill and then bring in the pile driver. The problem is that the pile driving equipment is now working in Connecticut. Lew, dividing the project into ‘administrative’ and ‘physical’ asked Mike Hartnett if the pile driving contractor was here, with the equipment, how long would it take Mass DOT to have all signatures and paperwork approved. The answer seemed to be about a week. Lew stated that he has had numerous constituents contact him and that it’s an extraordinary issue for this town that he’s going to do anything he can to have it be made a high priority. Carly Antonellis from Senator Flanagan’s office had a large binder with her. I asked her if that was her ‘to do’ list. She replied that it was her ‘bridge binder’, and that they have 9 bridges under construction in their district. Karen Murphy and Laila Michaud asked if a letter hitting home the urgency of our request and the dire straits of our local small businesses would help. I was quite pleased to see at the Board of Selectmen meeting that same night, the letter I have printed the text of below, was signed by the Selectmen. January 11, 2010 Mr. Thomas Waruzila, District Highway Director
Massachusetts Department of Transportation
403 Belmont St.
Worcester MA 01604 RE: Depot Road Bridge, Project #604045 Dear Mr. Waruzila: A meeting was held on Monday, January 11, to discuss the status of the Depot Road bridge construction project in Westminster. There has been little, if any, activity on this project over the past several months. As Selectmen, we are reaching out to you for your assistance in expediting this project. Attendees at this meeting included State Representative Lewis Evangelidis, Carly Antonellis from Senator Jennifer Flanagan’s office, Michael Hartnett and Lisa Spezzaferro-Pelletier from your office, Selectman Laila Michaud, DPW Director Joshua Hall, Highway Superintendent Will Ahearn, Town Coordinator Karen Murphy, local business owners Tammy Cirillo (Brook Bound Nursery) and Chris Bjurling (Depot General Store), and local resident Jennifer Shenk. The various individuals in attendance are representative of the wide attention this bridge project has gained, including that of state and local officials, Mass DOT, local businesses and interested citizens. We desperately need this project to move forward as our businesses are steadily losing their livelihood and many people are inconvenienced on a daily basis by having to drive several miles out of their way to reach either side of town. The purpose of this meeting was to try to bring the project back on schedule. The project received a Notice to Proceed in October 2008, the bridge was closed in April 2009, utilities were not moved until October 2009, after which time pile driving began, and then abruptly stopped when ledge was encountered. We realize the difficulties involved with winter construction projects, but it is very upsetting to note that the bridge construction stopped way before the weather was a factor. It is our understanding that work could resume fairly quickly if new work orders are approved and signed and the subcontractor is contacted to resume work with the appropriate equipment to bore through the ledge. We believe that with the required effort, this project could and should be able to be completed within the next six months. Thank you in advance for your assistance and cooperation in this matter. We look forward to working with you to ensure that this project is expedited, that our town residents are no longer inconvenienced and our businesses along Route 2A remain stable and viable. Sincerely,
Nicholas A. Hay
John F. Fairbanks Laila J. Michaud cc: Senator Jennifer Flanagan
Representative Lewis Evangelidis |
December 30, 2009
Word from Town Hall and elsewhere is that there will be a meeting in the next week or two with representatives from the Town of Westminster, the contractor and the state, Lew Evangelidis and some of the business owners in the area of State Road East.
Thanks to business owners and residents who attended the December 14th Selectmen Meeting to voice their concerns about the delays and long periods of inactivity surrounding the Depot Road Bridge Detour Project. Let's keep the spotlight on this project! After a year and a half of being closed, the bridge project is at 36% completion, not 88% as is indicated on the Massachusetts Department of Transportation Highway Division website (which has as a subheading 'Moving Massachusetts Forward'). According to Adam Hurtubise of the Massachusetts Department of Transportation, "We have not formally suspended the contractor from work, but we have placed the company's prequalification on hold." Then, from Ann Dufresne of MASS DOT on December 28th, "MASS DOT has met with the contractor and pile driving subcontractor and worked out a proposed method of completing the installation of steel pilings. (This part of the project was stalled due to boulder obstruction.) The new method will require pre-drilling through the boulders which necessitates an extra work order that will need agency approval and take approximately 8 weeks for review and comment. We anticipate that this latest delay along with the significant utility delays early on in the project will push the completion date into November 2010." "The Accelerated Bridge Program represents a monumental and historic investment in Massachusetts bridges. Over the next 8 years, nearly $3 billion in funding will be accelerated to improve the condition of bridges in every corner of the Commonwealth. This program will greatly reduce the number of structurally deficient bridges in the state system, while creating thousands of construction jobs on bridge projects. To complete this program MassDOT and DCR will rely on the use of innovative and accelerated project development and construction techniques. As a result, projects will be completed on-time, on-budget and with minimum disruption to people and to commerce." I have asked the Westminster Board of Selectmen as well as Jay Rives from State Representative Lew Evangelidis' office for an update on the status of a Community Meeting.
On December 29th an 80 year old, 2,184 ft. long bridge across Lake Champlain, linking New York and Vermont, was destroyed by controlled explosions. The remnants of the bridge crashed into the icy, frigid water, and before the new bridge can be constructed, the debris from the old bridge must be cleaned up. The replacement bridge in the same area, being expedited because of the effect on local business and traffic, is expected to be completed by summer 2011, making it quite possible that this bridge, including demolition and all cleanup from that demolition, will be completed more quickly than the somewhat less impressive Depot Road Bridge, whose closure continues to hurt small businesses in Westminster. Similarly, and even more discouragingly, the Chinese recently completed the construction a 664 mile long high speed rail service in a little over four years, starting in 2005 and completed in 2009. The trains on this track travel at speeds up to 350 mph, getting passengers between two major cities in just three hours. The Depot Road Bridge, although taking less time to construct, is considerably less technologically challenging, since it only needs to accommodate cars traveling a very short disctance at a top speed of 40 mph.
Below is the text of email exchanges concerning the most recent delays. They speak for themselves, but of special note is that this project was budgeted to take 500 days. Keep that in mind next time you hear someone at the state level say that they "came in on time and on budget". Note that we have been in contact with Jason Rives and Lew Evangelidis regarding pushing this issue along. We have received a positive response. I'll update this page as it's appropriate.
From: Jen Shenk
Sent: Tuesday, December 01, 2009 12:21 PM
To: Hurtubise, Adam (DOT)
Subject: Westminster Bridge Replacement Project
Adam--
Thanks for talking with me this morning about the bridge replacement project in Westminster (project number is 604045).
As you can see by the page on my website’s Depot Road Bridge Update (our most popular page, by the way...people are very frequently clicking for updates that I can no longer provide), this bridge replacement project has been ongoing for about a year and half. On that page you will see that the bridge was closed for 10 months waiting for the relocation of utility poles from one side of the road to the other--that's a big question right out of the chute--why would the state close down a bridge to leave it sit for that long before beginning the project?
In August when we first started our newsletter called Westminster Vine, we put together a petition to present to our legislators regarding the delays by the utility companies. In no time flat we had hundreds of signatures of licensed drivers who signed on to pushing this unnecessarily delayed project along. Our State Representative Lew Evangelidis (R-Holden) and his aide Jay Rives were very helpful in getting the utilities portion completed.
Now, several months later, heading into the worst construction season, our small businesses are suffering greatly. I have talked extensively with the business owners and they detailed how this is affecting them financially. You can imagine the loss in business when traffic goes from 11,500 cars per day to less than 3,000 (verified by police chief based on counts done for another project). Although I am interested in content for my newsletter, first and foremost I want to help these businesses. They are small family owned operations--a movie store, a glass repair shop, an exercise studio, a pizza place and a general store. Since the shortest way to the high school, middle school, voke school, the Town of Ashburnham and City of Fitchburg now involves going through the other side of town or getting off of route 2 by way of another exit, people are avoiding that area altogether. This economy is lousy enough without closing the road right near the end of an offramp to our town.
In the past several months I have gotten updates from workers at those businesses, our State Rep and his aide, and a few guys working on the job for the various contractors.
This morning, after being contacted by two of the businesses in the past week and harangued by townspeople every time I venture out over the past few months, I tried to 'up' the level of update a bit and called the Worcester office of the Massachusetts Highway Department at 508 929 3800. I spoke with a lady who was helpful but indicated that I might not get very far because I was calling as a newspaper. I offered to change my introduction, but she was not to be fooled.
She then transferred me to Bob Faron. As I mentioned to you on the phone, I deal with all kinds of issues every day and I rarely leave a situation until I get good customer service or I give good customer service. This was an exception and I found myself telling Mr. Faron that I wanted to make sure he knew I was going to escalate this and I would really just appreciate if it he could be a little more helpful or creative. It seemed to me as though Mr. Faron was interested only in telling me that the project was on schedule for completion in Spring of 2010 and there were some minor adjustments to be made. He didn't say it, but the general tone of the discussion was 'What's the big deal? The project will get done when it gets done'. There was no willingness whatsoever on his part to give me any information or think creatively to make this high priority for our town be anything other than a low priority for the MHD. When we first started covering this project, our State Rep told me that MHD is one of the best state agencies to deal with. Until I ended up speaking with you this morning, I was completely disenchanted.
When Mr. Faron asked me why I wanted to know about this project, I told him that I write a bi-weekly newsletter that ties to a website for and about Westminster, he couldn't get me off the phone quick enough. That's when he referred me to you.
Again, although I'd love content for my Bridge Update page, I would more love to push those temporary fences down and be able to drive over a stream that most people didn't even know was there before this became a 'state case'.
Thanks again for being willing to work with me on this. I eagerly await your response and look forward to giving these business owners some hope for the near future. I'm headed out for the day (Town Meeting tonight), but the Blackberry is always on, so email is great. …………………………………………. From: Hurtubise, Adam (DOT)
Date: Tue, 1 Dec 2009 14:35:16 -0500
To: Jen Shenk
Subject: RE: Westminster Bridge Replacement Project Jen--
Thanks for your e-mail. I'll get you an update.
I'll get you some information, which will come to me from our District 3 Office.
Again, I'm sorry you had a bad experience with your inquiry. I'll do what I can on this end.
Adam
Adam Hurtubise
Massachusetts Department of Transportation .......................... From: Jen Shenk
Sent: Tuesday, December 01, 2009 3:20 PM
To: Hurtubise, Adam (DOT)
Subject: Re: Westminster Bridge Replacement Project
Thanks. While you're asking around about Westminster let me know if you hear anything about the South Street intersection redo—it’s a terrible intersection that is a pending MHD project. Thanks
Jen
.......................... From: Hurtubise, Adam (DOT)
Subject: RE: Westminster Bridge Replacement Project
To: Jen Shenk
Date: Tuesday, December 1, 2009, 5:53 PM
Jen--
The project is under construction now and the construction team in our District 3 thinks the project will be complete by the scheduled completion date in June of next year.
In terms of specific work on the project, it is about 36% complete. Piles for one abutment have been installed. The subcontractor on the pile-driving work encountered boulders, which slowed the installation of the piles. This should not, however, affect the completion date. The subcontractor on that portion of the project will be back in January. The contractor will next begin work on the abutment footings. This is concrete work, and is weather-dependent.
I've visited your website and you appear to have a good chunk of this already. If there are additional details that I can get for you, please shout.
We recognize that our bridge projects cause inconveniences to drivers, abutters, neighbors and businesses. I appreciate your getting in touch with me. Please let me know if you need additional information, and also please feel free to check in later for another update.
Thanks,
Adam
Adam Hurtubise
Massachusetts Department of Transportation ................................................
From: Jen Shenk
Sent: Tue 12/1/2009 6:47 PM
To: Adam Hurtubise (DOT)
Subject: Westminster Bridge Replacement Project Adam-
Thanks for the response and getting back to me so quickly. I just wish there were better news. The obvious question is why is nothing happening right now? January is a long way off, and although this small bridge might be done by the June completion date, that date seems based on a lot of 'dead air' time packaged around actual work being done. I don't mean to be critical, but can't something be done to speed up the process?..simply hitting a completion date that was set so far in the future it's virtually impossible to miss doesn't seem like much of an accomplishment (this will make it a 2-1/2 year project that seems like it should have taken about 3 months). Basically, there is absolutely nothing happening right now, except that our small businesses are losing lots of business, and it just doesn't seem like anyone at the state level cares. Could you recommend anyone we could speak with who could perhaps help us out? You were much more pleasant than Bob Faron, but I think the answer is about the same.
Jen Shenk .................................. From: Hurtubise, Adam (DOT)
Subject: Westminster Bridge Replacement Project
To: Jen Shenk
Date: Tuesday, December 1, 2009, 10:31 PM Jen-- I'll certainly look into this further for you. Adam ................................ From: Jen Shenk
Sent: Wednesday, December 02, 2009 9:59 AM
To: Adam Hurtubise (DOT)
Subject: RE: Westminster Bridge Replacement Project Adam-- I just heard some new information regarding the rocks/obstructions issue at the Depot Road Bridge Detour in Westminster. I do not have copies of any contracts, but it was reported to me that if the obstructions are more than 5' underground the responsibility for taking care of it lies with the contractor but anything deeper than 5' is the responsibility of Mass Highway. What I heard this morning is that one obstruction is at a depth of 9' and three are at a depth of 7', and that the issue is with who is responsible for the cost of removing these obstructions is in question. The bottom line is this is a 6 month project that is heading toward being a 2 1/2 year project. Please call or email as soon as you have information. I am going to call my State Rep this morning as I think this needs to be approached from as many angles as it takes to move the project along. Thanks
Jen Shenk ........................................... From: Hurtubise, Adam (DOT)
Subject: Westminster Bridge Replacement Project
To: Jen Shenk
Date: Wednesday, December 2, 2009, 5:33 PM Jen-- The contract duration for this project is 500 days, established from the date of the contractor’s Notice to Proceed. The NTP was issued on October 10, 2008. The scheduled completion date is also affected by a clause that adds days to the contract duration if the original duration would cause the scheduled completion to fall between December 1 and March 15, because the Highway Division shuts down its weather-dependent projects, preventing weather- or temperature-sensitive work (work that is not weather- or temperature-dependent can often continue). Sometimes the shutdown is a bit earlier, sometimes a bit later. It depends on the weather. In this case, the scheduled completion date is June 7, 2010. As you know, there have been considerable delays associated with utility relocations that have slowed the project significantly. In spite of these delays, we are attempting to push our contractor to complete the project within the previously established timeframe. Workers encountered obstructions during the pile driving operation. These unexpected obstructions need to be cored through to allow the pile driving operation to continue. Within the next few days and as early as this Friday, we expect the coring to begin. The pile driving operation should be completed within the next few weeks depending on the weather and the amount of obstructions encountered. The issue of who is responsible to pay for obstruction removal, which happens to be MassDOT, is not impacting the speed at which the problem is being resolved. Thanks, Adam ....................................... From: Rives, Jason (HOU)
Subject: Westminster Bridge Replacement Project
To: Jen Shenk
Cc: Evangelidis, Lewis - Rep. (HOU)
Date: Thursday, December 3, 2009, 9:43 AM Jen, Are you satisfied with the detailed update Adam offered on behalf of MassDOT? It appears as though they are holding the contractor to the original deadline of June 2010 despite the delays in relocating utility poles and the discovery of ground obstruction which I imagine involves bringing special equipment to push through the boulders. Jay Jason W. Rives
Legislative Aide
Office of Representative Lew Evangelidis ........................................... From: Jen Shenk
Sent: Thursday, December 03, 2009 10:16 AM
To: Jason Rives (HOU)
Cc: Lew Evangelidis
Subject: Westminster Bridge Replacement Project Jay-- No, I’m not at all satisfied with the response. I think it’s a real cop out, for a number of reasons: First of all, they are by no stretch pushing the contractor—he’s as frustrated as everyone else that nothing is happening, yet again. Keeping to a schedule of 500 days to complete a tiny bridge is no accomplishment—it’s simply a case of setting expectations so low it’s virtually impossible to not meet them, although they are certainly pushing the limits. The Golden Gate Bridge was built in 4 years and it’s 1.7 miles long over the ocean—people said it couldn’t be done, a comment unfortunately more aptly applied to the Depot Road Bridge. Re the delay with the utility companies, someone should have been on top of this, but no one paid any attention to it until we contacted your office. If the state and utility companies couldn’t all coordinate efforts for 10 months, then at a minimum the bridge shouldn’t have been shut down until they were ready.
I really think there needs to be a sense of urgency about this. It is literally pushing small businesses right to the limit of what they can withstand financially—the state shouldn’t be crushing small businesses in a recession like this. This whole delay that just happened, with no one doing anything, probably would have just continued yet again if we hadn’t contacted people. There’s simply no excuse for vast periods of time when nothing happens, and just because the state arbitrarily set a project time of 500 days is no reason to consider it a job well done (if they based their estimate on what it usually takes them to do something like this, that’s even more discouraging). If this were done by the private sector, or even at a local level, it would have been done long ago. Adam’s comments about weather related delays, etc. are just setting the stage for more stretches of nothing being accomplished.
I think a sit down meeting with Lew, the contractor, someone with authority at the state level (and maybe even one of the small business owners who can detail the financial decimation he is experiencing) is in order.
Jen
 November 19, 2009 Hit stone and project sent back to designer. Awaiting response. November 4, 2009 North abutment is waiting for form work and concrete. The crane was set up on the southerly side today. Survey is expected to lay out pile locations and start preparing for pile driving tomorrow. October 21, 2009 Pile driving crane is now on the project. The crew expects to start driving piles within a day or two as soon as excavation and dewatering is complete. October 16, 2009 Verizon has completed the relocation of the wires and old utility poles have been removed. We have a request in to the Mass Highway Department for an update on the next steps in the construction project. October 8, 2009 Verizon expects to complete its work to transfer working lines to its new cables in the coming week, to be followed by removal of the existing cables and poles. September 22, 2009 Verizon's cables are placed in preparation for customer cutover and Comcast is just about finished their work. When Comcast is done, Verizon will come in and swing customers over to the new cables. The projection is that Comcast will be done in a few days and Verizon can start next week. September 9, 2009 In our Westminster Vine issue dated August 27th, we wrote about the shared frustrations of people impacted by the Depot Road Bridge Detour. Businesses, residents of Westminster and people from neighboring towns are extremely inconvenienced by this detour. This project seems to be stalled indefinitely thanks to the issue of moving 5 power poles and lines across the street. It’s been 10 months so far, and the utility work is not completed. As we reported in the previous newsletter, the small businesses are suffering and many days there is no activity at the site. I’ve heard only good things about Tasco Construction, the general contractor, but it seems everyone I talk with is frustrated with the utility companies. Thanks to the hundreds of people who either stopped in to sign our petition at Mike’s Pizza or Depot Package, or took the time to print a blank petition form and send it to us full of signatures. I talked with the Construction Inspector for the Mass Highway Department who explained that, although National Grid was on site last week doing their part of the wire move, the construction company is not able to drive the piles until the wires are moved, with the project waiting on Verizon and Comcast. I then called State Representative Lew Evangelidis who found out that National Grid notified Verizon that their work is done as of September 8th. Comcast came in, as promised, on September 9th with an estimated completion date of September 23rd. Verizon has done some preliminary work and will begin placing wires after Comcast is finished. Apparently pole and wire transfers like this happen from top to bottom on the poles, with electric going first, then cable and others, and finally Verizon at the bottom. We will change this webpage when we learn more. An updated report on the progress of this project will be published in the next issue of Westminster Vine, which will be sent to you on Thursday, September 24th. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
August 27, 2009 Several months ago when I first heard that the Depot Road bridge was going to be closed for construction, I thought 'what bridge?'. Now, nearly a year and several accidental trips down Depot Road later, I'm irritated. Getting to church in Ashburnham is annoying, we hardly ever get pizza from Mike's anymore, and school is about to start...so I did some research and spoke with Josh Hall, Director of the Westminster Department of Public Works, as well as local business owners and state legislators, to find out what is currently going on with this project, and when we can expect to cross the bridge again. Here's what I now know...
I did notice that the Depot Road bridge was in disrepair, but only after I noticed that there was actually a bridge there. It had blended into the background, simply a part of the road that connected me, as a driver, with Ashburnham, Fitchburg, our high school and middle school, and my friends who live on what I’m now calling ‘the other side of the detour’. It’s a small bridge over a stream, so the time taken to replace it seems far longer than would be expected.
When I asked Josh Hall, our DPW Director, what was taking so long, he explained that this is a MassHighway Department project and not a Town project. However our DPW did have input during the design of the project regarding water and sewer utilities.
The issues delaying the project seem to revolve around wires and telephone poles rather than the bridge itself. For instance, I’m wondering (as are many others) why it took ten months for the utility companies to move 5 poles to the other side of the road, which slowed down progress on the bridge itself. Now, according to Josh Hall, Tasco Construction (the Contractor) must wait again for the wires to be moved from the old poles to the new ones, and cannot do the bridge foundation work until the wires are moved. The Contractor was initially very optimistic that this project would be completed in Fall 2009. It appears now that this project will not be completed until Fall 2010, past the construction end date of Spring 2010, a delay due in large part to a ten month (and counting) process just to move the wires from five old poles to five new poles. Tasco Construction is doing everything they can but will come to a standstill this week until the wires are moved. I think this is unacceptable.
Shortly after the ice storm in December 2008, a friend and I went to work at the emergency shelter at Westminster Elementary School. We were assigned a great job—handing out Ben and Jerry’s and Haagen Dazs ice cream bars donated by Depot Package Store. Although Depot Package had lost their refrigeration and getting rid of the ice cream was necessary, I talked to owner Chris Bjurling at the time and it was clear he was happy to help out, even though he suspected (correctly) that he wouldn’t be reimbursed by his insurance company. And I can tell you for sure that those shelter patrons really appreciated it.
If the little strip of stores on State Road East housed several businesses, perhaps they wouldn’t feel the effects of this detour like they have. However, this is not a destination mall--it’s a place you stop because you’re going by it. Before the bridge detour rerouted traffic, there were traffic counters placed in two locations, trying to determine if a traffic light at the intersection of State Road East, Depot Road and Bartherick Roads was warranted. The average weekday vehicle count was between 11,200-11,500 vehicles per day. With the bridge detour there are now under 3,000 cars a day passing by that location. Business is down significantly and these businesses need our help.
Whether this delay is due to arguing between utility companies about who is responsible for the expense of moving the poles and wires, a change in who is paying taxes on the poles, or just plain bureaucratic red tape, it’s time to help our local businesses while helping ourselves. School is about to start. The poles were moved to the other side of the road 2 months ago! We want to be able to pass and repass over the tiny little stream under Depot Road, and soon!
Please consider stopping in at Depot Package or Mike’s Pizza and signing a petition that we will be sending to National Grid and Verizon and our local politicians in order to get this project moving. Or, to use the ‘many hands make light work’ theory and take matters into your own hands, click here to get a blank petition form, collect a few signatures from other annoyed licensed drivers and drop it off at Depot Package or Mike’s Pizza or mail it to Westminster Vine, P.O. Box 25, Westminster, MA 01473. It is imperative that we quickly collect signatures. We will update readers on our progress in the next issue of Westminster Vine, which will be published on Thursday, September 10th. Copies of the petition will be sent to our State Representative Lew Evangelidis and State Senator Jennifer Flanagan so they can see how many of us are affected by this long-running detour, and put pressure on the utility companies. You can also send an email directly to Lew or Jen by clicking on their names anywhere in this story or scroll down to see their physical mailing addresses if you’d prefer to send a printed letter. The wording of the petition is as follows:
We, the undersigned licensed drivers who have been adversely affected by the Depot Road Bridge Detour in Westminster since Fall 2008, request that National Grid and/or Verizon prioritize the movement of wires on Depot Road in Westminster, so as to as expeditiously as possible restore transportation, commerce and travel routes through this area.
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