DALTON, Mass. — After approximately six years of planning and navigating funding options, the reconstruction of Orchard Road is approaching. 

 

The town hopes to start construction by summer. The road, which is often used as a connector to Route 9, has had flooding for many years due to undersized drainage pipes, Highway Superintendent Edward "Bud" Hall said. 

 

“This is one of the worst roads in town and also one of the most heavily used. We’ve been trying to deal with the drainage for years—it’s at a low point and collects rainwater from a large area, and the outlets are not big enough to handle major storms, so water backs up and can form ice in the winter, damaging the road," Hall said.

Most of the flooding is in the middle of the road and into abutting residents' yards, sometimes reaching a depth of 6 inches near the Pease Avenue and Appletree Lane intersections to the East Branch of the Housatonic River. 

 

"Everything's gonna be upsized to be able to take heavier amounts of rainfall that we have been seeing so we shouldn't have any issues," Hall said. 

 

The new drainage system will replace the piping and catch basins with new and bigger pipes and move them to the center of the road. 

 

"The design from years ago, runs through a couple of homeowners' yards and it's way undersized for what water runs through there," Hall said. 

 

The town will not have to dig up residents' yards to complete the project. The old system that is under their yards will connect to the new, bigger system. 

 

"I'll just be continuing the way it was but there won't be getting flooded out anymore … We're upgrading right outside of their yards … so, we'll catch the water before it gets to their yards and becomes a problem," Hall said. 

 

The drainage project will be from Pease Avenue to the bridge. The other side of the road, near Wahconah Country Club, and from the Massachusetts Public Works building to Route 9 will have its blacktop replaced. 

 

The project does not have funding to repave the side roads, of Pease, Diamond and Ruby terraces, Appletree Lane, Martin Way, Broadview Terrace, and Hillside Avenue. If funds were available they would repave the side streets off Orchard, Hall said. 

 

The town was approved for a state MassWorks grant in the amount of $1 million, all of which will be used to address the street's drainage issues. More information on the grant here. 

 

"This is the second year we applied for this grant. When we got some feedback from the state last year, we were able to submit a project that met their requirements,” Hall said 

 

 

Many residents have expressed at recent meetings and via social media their interest in having sidewalks installed on Orchard Road. 

 

The road is used by some students who attend Wahconah Regional High School. The Select Board said during a September meeting that the town should first focus its repairs on sidewalks near the schools to improve student safety and high traffic areas. More information on sidewalks here. 

 

The current design of the road renovation does not include the installation of sidewalks as it is not feasible, Hall said. The drainage issues will utilize all of the funding received from the grant. 

 

The engineering of the project started in 2018 and sidewalks were not included in the scope of the project at that time, Hall said. 

 

The cause of the project's delay was the town's lack of funding. Over the years, the town applied for grants but was not approved. A few years ago, the town allocated funds for the project, which was utilized to complete the project's engineering and design. They are finalizing the designs now.