NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — Work on the Walnut Street retaining wall is expected to begin next spring.

 

However, preparations for the project are starting now with the removal of trees, placement of utility poles and installation of drainage down Oak Street this fall — dependent on weather.

 

"We talked a lot about what we thought the schedule was going to be, and the contractor preferred to work on the stormwater management piece, and then move the utilities so we're not worrying about you in the winter," Mayor Jennifer Macksey told Walnut residents during a project update on Monday.

 

"The contractors will still be working up there, weather dependent. But originally, when we spoke, we talked about moving the utilities first. But we thought that it was a better plan to wait until the spring, so you won't have any disruption to your driveways."

 

She said there were concerns about depending on temporary utilities during the winter.  

 

"I think this is the best course of action to do it and do it right. It's safety, we have to think of safety not only of all of you, but safety of our contractors," she said. 

 

The city received a $2 million MassWorks grant, together with $200,000 left from flood recovery money, to rebuild the massive block wall holding Walnut Street 50-feet above a long abandoned quarry. 

 

The road has been deteriorating for decades, and a section of the Walnut on west side has been blocked off for nearly five years.

 

(The city was facing about $15,000 in repairs to the street back in 1923 because a landslide in the quarry was undermining the road. "People living in that district have for some time feared the place, owing to the closeness of the street to the edge of the precipice," reported the North Adams Transcript.)

 

Marissa Mottolese and Daniel Holmes from Tighe & Bond gave a presentation on the timeline in council chambers. They've been coordinating with Western Earthworks of Northampton, which was awarded the contract. The company recently completed the temporary bridge on River Road in Clarksburg. 

 

Mottolese said several large trees have een removed and National Grid has installed new poles. Further work will depend on the utilities' schedules.

 

"What Western is hoping to be able to do this year, and this is all weather dependent because once it starts getting icy, they're not going to be able to get their equipment out. They want to try doing the drain line down Oak Avenue this year," she said. "So when they do that, they will close down Oak Avenue, and they'll be installing catch basins, pipe down the road. The idea is to get the drainage that's currently going through the wall to go down Oak Avenue before the winter."

 

Sewer, water and gas relocations will have to wait until next year, so the wall can't be touched until then. However, Mottolese said Western is looking at additional soil and rock explorations off the side of the ledge this year.

 

"We're not sure about how they're going to do that yet, but they told us that they do want to try," she said. "You may see some more equipment off the side of Walnut Street."

 

A resident asked if they'd considered a "nightmare scenario" of the work not moving forward because of test boring results. Holmes said they did not believe that would be a problem and the mayor added that "I think Western Earthworks wants to be super, super sure that and do their own testing."

 

It's a very complex excavation with a very steep drop, said Holmes. "So when you're operating big equipment on those areas, it's very dangerous. So I think for them, they want to see what are they dealing with. Do they have to build maybe like a platform much lower and bring in a lot of material and build it up?"

 

He said the engineers design a project to meet codes and requirements, but it's up to the contractor to determine how to build it.

 

"We don't get into the means and methods," he said. "So by them doing some additional explorations, that'll help them kind of determine what means and methods they're going to use to build this."

 

The water that runs down the mountain and through the pipe that comes out of the wall has not been tied into the city's stormwater system. Holmes said he couldn't say for sure it was the reason for the wall's failure, but drainage will be one aspect of the project. 

 

"There's a lot of energy associated with that water coming down there, so try to, you know, knock out some of the energy and move the drainage down and across," he said, including using "weeps" to slow the water so it infiltrates into the ground. 

 

During the project, the three homes directly across from the ledge will be the most affected. The mayor said they will be able to enter and exit the area but all others will be detoured. 

 

Oak Avenue, a narrow and steep road from Walnut to State Street, will be closed during construction, and likely won't come back "online" until spring 2028. She noted Oak is usually closed during the winter.

 

Once the work is completed, Oak Avenue will be repaved. 

 

"So as of right now, we're planning on using the land to the right of Speedway for a landing," said the mayor. "However, we are in the process of foreclosing on the property with an ugly, falling-down house. So our hope is by the time we really get to spring, we'll own it, and then we can use that piece of property."

 

The city is in the process of taking 12 Oak St., a large, long-vacant apartment house, through Land Court. The owner died some 15 years ago and the city did a tax taking in 2018. 

 

Macksey said residents will be kept updated on the progress of the project.