Bellingham Roadway Project Ratchets Up This Month
Dozens of communities around the state fight each year to get their hometown project on the much-coveted Transportation Improvement Project list, which dictates which improvements will be funded by the state.
The Town of Bellingham, after years of advocacy and thanks largely to federal stimulus money, finally got on the list.
Now, a $9.5 million project to improve safety of intersections, widen the road and fix stormwater drainage along Pulaksi Boulevard is underway. A major portion of the construction is set to begin this July, when the roadway reconstruction and adding sidewalks work will begin. Some of that work will cause road closures and detours.
Starting the week of July 9 there will be a road closure along parts of a 2.5-mile stretch of Pulaski Boulevard, which will continue through the fall of this year.
Patient Planning
Pulaski Boulevard turns into Route 126 on the Southern end, where it enters Rhode Island, and turns into Washington Street to the North, where it intersects with Interstate 495. The roadway is an important commuting route for Rhode Island residents heading north toward 495.
"We barely have two nickels to throw together, so to get this kind of support from the federal government is pretty significant," said Donald DeMartino, commissioner of the Bellingham Department of Public Works.
Planning for the project, DeMartino said, began in the mid 1990s when town officials noticed that during heavy rain storms the drainage system became overwhelmed. Over time the rainwater buildup eroded the gulleys in the road. There is also about a 5,000-foot stretch on a hill that has no stormwater drainage, which causes about one-foot deep puddles during heavy rains, according to DeMartino.
"It was a major problem," he said.
Resurfacing was needed on the road and some widening, too. A four-way intersection with Wrentham Road and Paine Street will also be realigned as part of the project, which DeMartino said is the worst intersection in town. There are numerous commercial areas along the road, including supermarkets and shops, as well as single-family residential developments.
After conceptual plans were made for the improvements in the late 1990s, the town began lobbying the state and federal government for assistance in doing the work. DeMartino said when the town learned that the state would not pay for improvements to water and wastewater systems, the town undertook that construction through borrowing and without assistance from the state.
Since the early 2000s, DeMartino said he and town officials have been lobbying annually to the Boston Metropolitan Planning Organization to place the project on the organization's TIP list.
As the lobbying continued, DeMartino said more definitive plans were made.
Then the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act passed the U.S. Congress, opening up billions of dollars around the country for infrastructure projects that were "shovel ready."
Fortunately for Bellingham, the Pulaksi Boulevard project qualified.
"This is one of the projects that has been pushed by the community for many, many years," said Eric Bourassa, transportation manager for the Metropolitan Area Planning Council, which is a member of the Boston MPO.
At the point when stimulus funds were released, the project was sufficiently designed and ready to go, so it was approved for funding.
Plus, Bourassa said importance of the road for commuters made the project an important regional initiative.
Originally budgeted a $13.5 million project, a low bid came in from Rhode Island-based J.H. Lynch & Sons for $9.5 million. Construction started last year and is expected to be complete by the fall of 2011.
"This is one of the projects that has been pushed by the community for many, many years," said Eric Bourassa, transportation manager for the Metropolitan Area Planning Council, which is a member of the Boston MPO.
At the point when stimulus funds were released, the project was sufficiently designed and ready to go, so it was approved for funding.
Plus, Bourassa said importance of the road for commuters made the project an important regional initiative.
The area of construction on Pulaski Boulevard is highlighted in red on the map below:
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