Adams Roundabout Project On Track
 Motorists can expect some delays this summer at the busy Friend and Columbia Street intersection as a new roundabout is installed to handle the 17,000 vehicles passing daily through the area. |
ADAMS, Mass. — The roundabout at the intersection of Friend Street and Route 8 should be complete by next spring.
Town Administrator Tony Mazzucco said it is anticipated that hardscaping will be complete by winter with work finalized in the spring. He said this time frame is all dependent on how strong and early the winter is, however, at this point, all is moving smoothly.
"Things are moving nicely ... but as with any construction project it's impossible to predict everything," Mazzucco said. "I actually drive right through there every day to and from work."
Director of Community Development Donna Cesan said contractor C&A Construction is working quadrant to quadrant.
She said C&A was finishing up the construction of the retaining wall and other culvert work in front of the Burke Construction property. Once this work is finished, crews will move toward the 7-Eleven property, Cesan said.
She added that Verizon set its utility poles earlier this week.
Funding for design of the $1.5 million state Department of Transportation project was first secured in 2004. After a brief scare in 2012, when a $650,000 federal earmark for engineering was diverted to the Berkshire Regional Transit Authority, the project is now moving ahead and construction began this spring.
The roundabout is designed slow traffic down at the dangerous intersection at Friend, Columbia and Renfrew streets. The intersection area includes several business, including the 7-Eleven, a public sports park and residential buildings.
The intersection sees nearly 17,000 cars pass per day and a substantial amount of accidents. Traffic is expected to increase when the Greylock Glen project comes to fruition and roundabout was designed with that in mind.
A second nearly $4 million project to restructure Friend Street and West Road has been in the preliminary design stage for some years.
Tags: infrastructure improvements, MassDOT, road work, roundabout, traffic,
