State, local and federal officials recently announced a $20 million project to construct a flyover over the Front Street rail crossing. Left to right, Rep. Richard Neal, state Department of Transportation Rail and Transit Administrator Meredith Slesinger, Agawam Mayor Christopher Johnson and West Springfield Mayor William Reichelt.
Reminder Publishing photo by Tyler Lederer
WEST SPRINGFIELD — State, federal and local officials recently announced a $20 million project to construct a flyover at the Front Street rail crossing, allowing cars to drive over the train tracks when railcars are blocking the road.
The flyover comes after a decade of trying to tackle this issue.
“This announcement for exploring, designing, and eventually constructing a flyover from West Springfield right at the edge of the bridge into Agawam is going to be awesome for both our communities,” said Mayor William Reichelt at a July 27 press conference.
Reichelt said the double stacking of trains and the proximity of CSX’s railyard to the crossing leads to trains blocking it, causing traffic and public safety concerns. He also said the blockages discourage development.
U.S. Rep. Richard Neal (D-Springfield), whose meetings with freight train operator CSX helped spur the project, said blocking the crossing causes traffic problems.
“[It’s] not just an inconvenience,” he said. “People are trying to get back and forth from work. It’s a big deal.”
Agawam Mayor Christopher Johnson said they affect mutual aid between the town’s police and fire departments.
“Right now, they can’t go that route, even though they might know it’s the shortest, because they never know if there’s a train sitting on the tracks,” he said. “Once we get this built, it will allow for quicker response times between communities, which needless to say, is extraordinarily important.”
Alternative routes to get from West Springfield to Agawam involve going through Westfield and Feeding Hills, taking River Street to the Morgan-Sullivan Bridge or taking Route 5, he said.
“It’s an extensive delay and it’s really exacerbated when the Big E is on,” he said. “The train is stopped on the tracks on the Front Street crossing and will be there for hours.”
State Department of Transportation Rail and Transit Administrator Meredith Slesinger connected the project to larger infrastructure projects in Western Massachusetts.
“This project won’t just benefit the towns but will also make projects like West-East rail create more operational flexibility and more fluidity, so we are not having passenger and freight rail conflicts the way that we do on shared track,” she said.
Funding for the project will come from the federal Railway-Highway Crossings program, as well as state funds and a $2 million donation from CSX, said Slesinger.
The original concept, said Reichelt, involves an overpass connecting Second Street to what is now a parking lot on the other side of the railroad, which will connect to Bridge Street.
The project is currently in its beginning stages. Construction may start around 2027, said Slesinger.
“There are several steps before we get to construction. We’re really at the beginning,” she said.
Neal said projects like this take time, what with the permitting, environmental and traffic studies, and the bidding process.
“It’s got to be done right,” he said.
Asked what message he’d like to give to those facing issues at the crossing now, Reichelt emphasized the virtue of patience.
“There’s hope at the end of the tunnel,” he said. “There’s a light at the end.”
