$2M William S. Canning Boulevard roadwork project will begin this year

FALL RIVER --- Application for state permits are submitted and requests for construction bids are about to go out and the more than $2 million roadwork project on William S. Canning Boulevard will begin this year.

City Engineer JR Frey said the city is seeking the permits from Massachusetts Department of Transportation to access the state road from the front of the SouthCoast Marketplace to the ramp to Route 24 where mall traffic is often backed up to the highway during high volume traffic times during the day and early evening.

Invitation to bid documents will be published at the end of April and opened in mid-May, said Frey.

Meanwhile, the city and MassDOT are conducting a road safety audit in the areas of Canning Boulevard, Newton Street and SouthCoast Marketplace.

“It will involve the police department, the fire department and other interested parties and held on site at the mall to talk about the difficulty with the intersection,” said Frey.

Funding for the roadwork comes from a $2.5 million MassWorks Infrastructure Program grant that was actually announced back in October 2017 when the $100 million mall project was completed and that completely transformed the former New Harbour Mall.

Executive Office of Housing and Economic Development Secretary Jay Ash was in Fall River to announce that the city was the recipient of the grant during a press conference with SouthCoast Marketplace as the backdrop.

Frey said the owners of SouthCoast Marketplace will be doing work on their property that will include an additional right-turn only access to the parking area from Canning Boulevard near Santander Bank.

The road construction will also extend the existing left-turn lane from the Route 24 off-ramp onto Newton Street, where during peak hours 300 to 400 vehicles pass through per hour, often bottlenecking the roadway and at times backing traffic up as far as the highway.

Frey said the proposed plan is to extend the left-turn lane by 150 to 160 feet.

Part of the project has been completed, with new signal controls installed at the entrance of the plaza last fall.

Email Jo C. Goode at jgoode@heraldnews.com.