The long-delayed Woodlawn Bridge project is now expected to start next spring.

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — A long-delayed replacement bridge at William Stanley Business Park once expected to be completed in mid-2013 will not begin until spring 2015.

 

As recently as two months ago, it was anticipated that initial construction for the Woodlawn Avenue bridge would begin this year and continue through the winter, but continued holdups in the bidding process have pushed this timetable back yet again.

 

"The project will improve Pittsfield infrastructure," said Mayor Daniel Bianchi in a statement on Wednesday. "The bridge construction will take place in one stage from demolition to reconstruction; therefore, residents will not be affected by a multistage project."

 

Bianchi was notified of the green light for the project last week, and a copy of the contract was sent to the Pittsfield Economic Development Authority early this week, its Executive Director Corydon Thurston said on Wednesday.

 

The $4.59 million project will replace a previous bridge demolished in July 2012, connecting East Street to the Tyler Street neighborhood across the business park. While functional, the old bridge, which had been closed to traffic since 2006, was approximately 15 inches too low to accommodate double-decker train cars. The state Department of Transportation had originally decreed that only the center span be removed, but this was later amended to include the entire bridge.

 

The timetable for the project, which is considered crucial to the development of the business park, has been plagued with continued delays over the past few years. Initially, a land transfer in 2011 from the city to PEDA, charged with administering the business park, paved the way for a demolition at the start of 2012, but uncertainties about its replacement held this removal up for eight months.

 

In July 2012, state Sen. Benjamin B. Downing had secured $2 million in state funding for the bridge replacement as part of that year's transportation bond bill, but the funding authorization was contingent on the project being completed in 2013.  It had been hoped that this would alleviate traffic delays involved in the closure of nearby Silver Lake Boulevard as remediation of the lake was undertaken during summer 2013, but further delays in MassDOT's design process trumped these hopes.

 

It was then discovered that additional rights of way needed to be taken by the City Council under eminent domain for the project to proceed, at 100 Woodlawn and the southeast corner of the intersection of Woodlawn and Kellogg Street. The land holdings were owned by PEDA and General Electric, respectively, both of which waived any award of damages and thus incurred no further expense to the city.

 

 

Once the design was completed, the contract was put out to bid in May, and promptly garnered five bidders, ranging from $4.46 million to $5.48 million. Further contract amendments, and additional questions and requests for clarifications from bidders drew the process out into September.

 

In addition to the bridge construction, the contract also includes a significant reconstruction of the Woodlawn and Kellogg Street intersection.  This work will include pavement milling, installing granite curb installation and paving; constructing cement concrete sidewalks, relocation of a water main, and new street lighting on Woodlawn Avenue. 

 

"We'll be setting up a staging area under an agreement that will be clearly definitive, and we'll be looking for the appropriate insurance certificates from the company and their vendors," said PEDA Chairman Maurice Callahan.