City and state officials gathered for a groundbreaking ceremony celebrating the “X” reconstruction project, which is officially underway.
Reminder Publishing file photo
SPRINGFIELD — The Massachusetts Department of Transportation and the Springfield DPW have announced that the main water construction activities associated with the “X” project will transpire through fall.
Over the next few months, the project’s contractor will complete asphalt removal, excavation, trenching, water pipe installation, material deliveries, construction equipment staging and asphalt restoration.
According to MassDOT, the work will take place on Ormond Street between Sumner Avenue and Belmont Avenue, Belmont Avenue at the Ormond Street intersection and Sumner Avenue at the Ormond Street intersection.
“Ormond Street will be closed to through traffic, but will remain open for local residential and business access,” the DPW office said in a statement.
The announcement comes a little over a month after the city gathered for a groundbreaking ceremony celebrating the start of the $27.5 million “X” reconstruction project, a roadway initiative over 10 years in the making.
At the time of the ceremony, Mayor Domenic Sarno said early construction of the project in March 2025 with installation of advanced traffic signage, survey work, mobilization to the site, preliminary utility investigation and tree and vegetation removal.
According to the state website, the full project begins at the Sumner Avenue intersection with Churchill Street and continues 3,400 feet east to the intersection with Daytona Street. The Belmont Avenue project limits begin just northwest of its intersection with Burlington Street and continue 1,650 feet south to the intersection with Ormond Street. Meanwhile, the Dickinson Street segment begins at the intersection with Burlington Street and runs south 1,050 feet to the intersection with Cliftwood Street.
Aside from those areas, the project will also affect Lenox Street, Ormond Street, Burlington Street, Oakland Street and Commonwealth Avenue, the state website says.
The entire project will be done in phases, with drainage construction happening between summer 2025 and summer 2026; water line construction between 2026 and 2027; electric and conduit work between 2028-2029; and roadway construction in summer 2029.
When completed, which officials hope will be in 2030, the project will fix what many in the city say is an antiquated section of Springfield, where a tattered pavement, lack of bike lanes and “awful” pedestrian crossings are exacerbated by a growth of vehicles on the road, as well as an increase in accidents and motorists speeding.
The MassDOT Highway Division is overseeing the construction of the project, and Baltazar Contractors is the project contractor, according to the city.
“By far, this is probably the largest roadway project we’ve done in the city since we did State Street [Corridor Project],” DPW Director Chris Cignoli said at a spring public meeting. “We’re doing this [project] to get speeds down, and we’re doing it to make it safer.”
The water construction work happening this summer is scheduled Monday through Friday from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. MassDOT said that water pipe work in other areas of the project limits will be scheduled at later dates.
Readers will find more about the project here: tinyurl.com/3dn4amxv and here: tinyurl.com/8m8ehhrj.
