WEST SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (WGGB/WSHM) - West Springfield’s Memorial Avenue has been a construction zone for a decade, but there may be a light at the end of the tunnel.

As part of the repaving process, MASSDOT crews had ripped up the area between Union Street and Bosworth Street, leaving drivers to navigate deep potholes filled with rain water over the weekend.

It’s been a decade of orange cones and construction crews, and for local business owners like Salvatore Alfaroni at Mamma Mia’s Pizzeria, it has seemed never-ending.

“It is keeping customers away because they know not to come down these streets while they’re all working,” said Alfaroni. “So, it is definitely affecting the business.”

This is now the second phase of three for the repavement project on Memorial Avenue, this stretch runs from Bosworth Street until just before the intersection at Union Street.

MASSDOT crews rip up the existing street, then place a layer of dirt before smoothing that out and applying the pavement. It’s led to some bump rides for drivers who use the road regularly.

“They’re awful, they’re really bad still,” Resident Kelly Stanton. “I don’t know why it’s taking so long.”

West Springfield Mayor Will Reichelt says he understands the public’s frustration.

“I would say for one, we’re in the final stretch,” said Reichelt. “It’s certainly, even probably that dirt is better than it has been before. So I appreciate the patience people have had over the past decade.”

Reichelt says that he anticipates this major paving will be done by August, before the Big E kicks off. MASSDOT says the full project is expected to wrap up by November of next year and will include buffered bike lanes, a center turn lane, sidewalks, and accessibility ramps.

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