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 , MA, May 18, 2021 — 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.

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