Route 20 project delayed due to lack of permits

WEST SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (WWLP) - A project that would reduce Route 20 in West Springfield down to one lane in each direction has been postponed for at least the next two weeks.

Mayor Greg Neffinger told 22News that the state project did not have the proper permits, so West Springfield police were sent to the construction site to stop the work. Route 20 was to be narrowed from four lanes to two on Monday morning.

"We issued a stop work order and we asked the Chief of Police to go out and explain to them they hadn't filed the correct permits yet," Neffinger said.

The project is intended to raise the clearance of the bridge that carries Route 20 over the railroad tracks near Charles Avenue. This is being done to accommodate double-decker trains.

Neffinger said that they will now have to apply for the permits they need, which would mean that work cannot begin for at least another two weeks.

The delay is at least temporary good news for people living on Charles Avenue, some of whom told 22News they would like to see the project cancelled altogether.

Christine Budzynkiewicz says she fears the larger trains could cause damage to her house.

“After living here for 38 years, when the trains go by very quickly, my house, I can feel it shaking a little bit. If the double-decker trains go by at the same speed they do now, what's it going to do to my foundation and my house?” she said.

Her neighbor, Elizabeth Sanborn, said that she worries the state doesn’t realize flooding problems that might occur on Charles Avenue due to the area being dug up.

“I don’t know if everyone involved is on top of what they’re doing to us,” Sanborn said.

The project is not expected to be complete until some time in 2014.