Dwight Road Public/Private Partnership

The Town of Longmeadow made innovative use of District Improvement Financing* to fund infrastructure improvements to provide access to a new 20-acre medical campus. The development site was abutting a critical transportation corridor serving regional traffic from surrounding towns and was already experiencing congestion and safety deficiencies warranting remediation.

After initially working for the developers to evaluate transportation operations related to site access and to conceptualize required improvements, Fuss & O’Neill was retained by the Town to design corridor reconstruction to alleviate congestion, promote greater safety, and provide pedestrian facilities and connectivity the area lacked. We also performed construction administration tasks to bring this project to completion.

The project enlarged two existing signalized intersections and replacement of inefficient signal control, implemented signal control and realigned a third interaction with problematic geometry, and connected and coordinated all three locations to minimize queueing and provide through traffic progression.

Intersection improvements were based on our determination of peak-hour factor, truck percentage, and applicability of pedestrian phasing. We determined the volume-to-capacity ratio, analyzed existing traffic volumes, and performed systems analysis for closely spaced and/or coordinated systems. Dwight Road was widened for auxiliary lanes and bicycle and pedestrian accommodation. Pedestrian connectivity was provided throughout to provide non-vehicular access to the medical campus for patients, visitors, and employees.

The Fuss & O’Neill team created preliminary sign and pavement marking plan to document changes associated with conceptual design and develop methodology to construct the project to minimize the impact to the motoring public and abutters, while at the same time address construction costs and constructability

The improvements to this area provide safe and efficient access for a major employer and activity center, and have resolved existing safety and congestion deficiencies.