Chester Highway Superintendent Charles Dazelle.
Reminder Publishing submitted photo
CHESTER — Highway Superintendent Charles Dazelle said he was notified recently that the town has been awarded two Community One Stop for Growth grants totaling $1.3 million.
The grants include a MassWorks Infrastructure program grant of $980,000 and a Rural Development Fund grant of $331,000.
The MassWorks Program grant of $980,000 includes resurfacing of approximately 9,500 feet of Blandford Rd, a major collector under local jurisdiction which provides a vital detour route when Route 20 is closed. Grant funding will pay for the development of a bid package and construction.
As a resurfacing project, this can be considered shove-ready. This grant will allow Chester to rehabilitate the pavement, improve drainage features to reduce storm damage and prevent sediment runoff, and add roadside safety features, according to Dazelle.
The Rural Development Fund grant of $331,000 is Johnson Hill Road, which runs between Middlefield Road and Skyline Trail in Chester and features steep and winding terrain, running adjacent to Otis Wait Brook.
Dazelle said there are two areas where the interaction of the brook and the road are causing slope failures and numerous localized drainage and flooding issues. Grant funds would be used to conduct data collection, preliminary design, permitting, and final design for reconstruction of the road, including geotechnical, hydrologic and geomorphic analyses.
Dazelle said these grants are in addition to a Community Development Block Grant of $532,738 through the Pioneer Valley Planning Commission for Phase 2 of Prospect Street, which will cover drainage, start the water main work and guard rails next spring. “When Phase 3 comes in, in the next couple of years, we’ll be finishing the water main and blacktopping the whole road,” Dazelle said.
All three grants bring the total to more than $1.8 million awarded to Chester Highway this year. “I think it’s great. Chester has long needed this money. It’s going to greatly help. We appreciate all that are involved, and we’re going to continue to go for grants,” Dazelle said.
