Barchester Repaving Centerpiece of 2010 Roadwork Plan

The repaving of Barchester Way takes center stage on the Department of Public Works' 2010 road work schedule, with other smaller projects on the calendar.

Town Engineer Kris McAloon said the long awaited Barchester project will likely commence by the end of September, with final approval of a contract coming from the Town Council at a September meeting. He said the final design work on the project and work on the specifics of the contract language are being hammered out this summer.

Since the state is funding of the project, state transportation officials will need to sign off on the final design before a contract can be let out to bid for the project.

The Barchester project will result in the complete tear up and replacement of the existing road. The road is considered one of the worst in Westfield with large potholes and uneven surfaces marking the road. The state grant, first applied for in June 2009, is one of the largest received in recent years for a public works project.

McAloon said the project will start before leaf season and take a couple of weeks to complete. The last large scale repaving of a street in Westfield was last summer's repaving of Willow Grove Road.

McAloon said along with the work on Barchester, work will likely also be done on several of the side streets off of Barchester.

Outside of the Barchester project, McAloon said work has been moving along on other DPW projects identified in the two year capital plan adopted by the Town Council in 2009. These inlude work on new curbs around town and on a repaving project on Downer Street.

McAloon said the Downer Street project should have a contract go out for bid within two weeks.