ATHOL – For weeks, several public meetings have been held for the Five Points project, yet recent gatherings have had many in town still asking for details.

Public Works Director Dick Kilhart explained the project’s background and what it will accomplish once completed.

“It starts from what everyone in town calls the ‘temporary bridges,’” Kilhart explained, “in particular, the one over the Millers River; that’s where the project starts and will go north up Chestnut Hill Avenue to Lee Street, which is just beyond the Crescent Street Extension. Crescent Street itself will be re-done. A short piece of Brattle and Laurel and Silver Lake (streets) will be done, and the piece that goes down next to the river – it’s called Bridge Street.”

The project has been on the Transportation Infrastructure Project (TIP) list for several years and has finally reached the top of that list for the Montachusett region. Money for the project will come from the Federal Highway Administration, according to Kilhart.

The list, Kilhart said, is compiled by the Montachusett Joint Transporation Committee, of which he is a member.

“My predecessor, Doug Walsh, got this one placed on the list and it’s almost six years ago, now, that we’ve been working on this project,” he said. “It’s been a long time.”

Projects, said Kilhart, are scored on several factors, including the complexity and dangerousness of the roadway and what will be improved, such as vehicular traffic or pedestrian and bicycle safety,

Getting into more detail, Kilhart said, “The entire intersection off the bridge is going to shift toward Crescent Street, or shift toward where you have an earthen (retaining) wall now. That is going to be a full-fledged 25-foot, 28-foot – somewhere in there – prefabricated wall. It’s going to look like a rock wall, but it’s concrete that will be routed back under Crescent Street.

“So, you’ll not only have a large wall there holding up what is now a falling down Crescent Street, but on the lower side – coming up Bridge Street – you’re going to have a smaller retaining wall made of the same material holding Bridge Street.”

Kilhart said the Bridge Street retaining wall is deteriorating to the point where the roadway is threatening to fall into the Millers River. The installation of the two retaining walls, he said, constitute a major portion of the project. In addition, the grades of both Chestnut Hill Avenue – as one exits the bridge northbound – and Bridge Street will be “shaved” but will still be relatively steep.

The DPW chief also said that the traffic pattern will undergo at least one significant change.

“You will not be able to go Crescent Street straight through and turn up Chestnut Hill Avenue,” he explained. “That intersection at Chestnut Hill Ave, Lee Street, Crescent Street Extension – you’ve got to drive up Chestnut Hill, you’ve to look up out of your car (to the left) and try to look over the hill – it’s a very, very, very dangerous intersection.

“At that point, Crescent Street is going to stop; it will not go through. If you’re coming down Chestnut Hill Ave, you won’t be able to turn onto Crescent Street.”

Kilhart added that the large mirror currently placed on Crescent Street to allow motorists to check for traffic coming up Bridge Street will be removed. Mirrors of that type, he said, are not legal because they don’t meet Manual Traffic Control Device standards.

In addition to work on the roads and retaining walls, sidewalks in the area will be made handicap-accessible, crosswalks and rapid flash beacons will be added, and improvements will be made to water and sewer lines, as well as drainage.

While federal funding will be used to pay for the project, Kilhart said, “The town’s commitment to that is funding for the design work, right through the bid specifications and engineering plans.”

The project is scheduled to go out to bid on June 24, 2024. Construction, according to Kilhart, will take about 18 months, and traffic detours are expected.

“They will keep one-way traffic moving through there,” he said, “only because sometimes it a challenge with the bigger truck – come can’t go down School Street and MassDOT is going to be doing work on the Main Street railroad bridge, and we also have a small bridge project next to the Crescent Street Bridge.”

The original estimate for the cost of the project was estimated at $5.5 million, but has since ballooned to $8.5 million. Athol, Kilhart said, has committed $600,000 to the cost of design and engineering. The town has selected CHA Companies, with headquarters in Albany, New York, to do the engineering.

Greg Vine can be reached at gvineadn@gmail.com.