Northampton roundabout project terminated

Greetings,

MassDOT will be terminating the proposed roundabout project at Hatfield and North King Streets. MassDOT has expressed that its decision stems largely from the public comments they received during the virtual public information meeting held on February 17. I’ve included the MassDOT press release, below. The vast majority of comments expressed opposition to the project due to its impact on a site of archeological significance to the indigenous history of the area.

At the core of my and my team’s engagement through this process has been the belief that the concerns of Native representatives must be addressed before any further work occurred on the project.

To read the full extent of our team’s engagement in this project, which was done in partnership with Representative Sabadosa and Congressman McGovern, please visit: https://senatorjocomerford.org/tag/northampton-roundabout/.

Thank you for your engagement in this process over the last twelve months. We have heard from over 200 of you in the last year. 

I am especially grateful to Mark Andrews, the representative from the Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head (Aquinnah), the site observer for this project, as well as to members of the state-recognized tribes who had reached out to our offices: the Nipmuc Nation, Elnu-Abenaki, Chaubunagungamaug Nipmuc, and the western Massachusetts representative on the Commission for Indian Affairs.

Thank you to MassDOT and the Federal Highway Administration for their engagement. Thank you to the City of Northampton for its care around driver and pedestrian safety.

MassDOT Announces the Termination of the Current Construction Contract for the Northampton Roundabout Project at North King Street and Hatfield Street

MassDOT will undertake a re-evaluation of the project design, taking public opposition into account as a key evaluation criterion for all design alternatives considered

NORTHAMPTON – The Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT) is announcing the decision to terminate the current construction contract for the Northampton Roundabout Project at the intersection of North King Street and Hatfield Street and undertake a re-evaluation of the project design. This re-evaluation will allow MassDOT to consider previously unforeseen circumstances, including a more extensive review of the impacts of any work on a local site of archeological significance.

This project will reconstruct the intersection of North King Street and Hatfield Street in Northampton to alleviate operational and safety deficiencies at the intersection. The project may also include roadway improvements to provide multimodal accommodations along Hatfield Street and North King Street.

MassDOT held a Virtual Public Information Meeting on February 17, 2020 as part of the public process. MassDOT received many public comments on the project and proposed location. The overwhelming majority of the comments raised opposition to the project due to its impacts to an archaeological site. There has continued to be substantial public opposition towards the project that MassDOT was not able to minimize during the public process. Therefore, MassDOT has determined that the best next step is to terminate the current construction contract and undertake a re-evaluation of the project design. The re-evaluation option is responsive to the nature of the public comments received, which asked MassDOT to consider alternatives that avoided the location of the archaeological site. This re-evaluation will take public opposition into account as a key evaluation criterion for all design alternatives considered.