AMHERST — Despite continued interest from members of the Town Council in getting more utility lines buried underground, especially when road construction projects are underway, several wires will remain attached to relocated poles when a new roundabout at Amity Street and University Drive is complete.
After extensive discussion at its Sept. 15 meeting, which followed conversations with an Eversource representative at the Sept. 8 meeting, councilors voted unanimously, if reluctantly, in favor of a request from Eversource to relocate an existing pole and to install a joint guy pole at the intersection.
“I’m curious why putting these lines underground was not even considered for even this short span,” said At-Large Councilor Mandi Jo Hanneke, observing that councilors have been urging that electric, phone, cable and fiber lines go underground when possible.
Department of Public Works Superintendent Guilford Mooring said that the roundabout work is being funded by a $1.94 million MassWorks Infrastructure Program grant, awarded last fall, and putting utilities below ground would have driven up the cost beyond what the state would fund.
In addition, the location is unlike the roundabout at Triangle and East Pleasant streets, where the state supported putting all utilities below the street to accommodate the Kendrick Place mixed-use building and other dense development nearby.
The proposed roundabout is being spurred by a plan to build a mixed-use building called Campus View at the southwest corner of the roundabout. The location is at the entrance to both the town and the University of Massachusetts campus, and is also a major intersection, said District 4 Councilor Pam Rooney.
“This would be an ideal opportunity to lay an electric duct bank through this intersection, Rooney said.
“If we don’t start now, when do we start cleaning up the overhead scramble we have to look at all the time,” Rooney said.
In January 2022, councilors reacted similarly to Eversource’s requests to place poles for service to the Emily Dickinson Museum and the solar arrays at the capped landfill, and asked the company to minimize the number of poles on Woodside Avenue for an Amherst College project.
Mooring said the scope of the project was kept under $2 million due to lines remaining overhead. Baltazar Contractors Inc. of Ludlow was recently hired by the town to start the work, which could get underway by October.
“In doing that scoping, there was no discussion about undergrounding utilities,” Mooring said. “Utilities were proposed to stay where they are and be adjusted as needed to fit into the roundabout.”
Mooring said Eversource’s preference is not to do little sections at a time, but to bury at least half a mile at once.
“It’s not appropriate because it just doesn’t meet their criteria for work,” Mooring said.
In a memo of support, Mooring also wrote, “the town worked directly with Eversource to develop this plan. This is the best layout to meet the needs of all the utilities involved and accommodate the roundabout with all its infrastructure.”
Council President Lynn Griesemer and District 5 Councilor Bob Hegner both advocated for putting conduits below the roundabout for future service.
But Griesemer said the reality is the town is at the mercy of utility companies.
District 5 Councilor Ana Devlin Gauthier suggested that town officials have conversations with the company and possibly set that as a goal for Town Manager Paul Bockelman.
District 1 Councilor Cathy Schoen said the town can make a strong case for why it makes sense to do, with storms knocking down lines.
“Can’t we plan in advance to have this not occur again,” Schoen said.
Even with the approval of the pole relocation, Mooring said the roundabout likely won’t be finished by the end of June next year, and would need an extension from the state to complete by December 2026.
