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Forest Park business owners, residents react to upcoming changes to ‘X' intersection

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (WWLP) – Changes are coming to Springfield's 'X' intersection and 22News spoke with business owners and residents about what this could mean for the Forest Park neighborhood. Big changes are coming to Forest Park as the 'X' intersection is set for construction to begin this Spring. According to the Springfield DPW, the project will extend 0.6 miles along Sumner Avenue from the Forest Park main greeting road to Daytona Street, Belmont Avenue, and Dickinson Street. Proposed changes include traffic signal upgrades, sidewalk and pedestrian crossing updates, additional turning lanes, bicycle accommodations, and stormwater facilities. The 'X' is historically one of the busiest intersections in the region, and these changes are meant to preserve the quality of life and local economy in the area. Sumner Avenue at Dickinson Street and Belmont Avenue landed number 1 on the top 100 high crash intersections in the Pioneer Valley region in 2016. These changes reflect increased traffic, and thus the need for increased safety in the area. The community, both businesses and residents, largely welcomes these improvements. Christos Kalaizidis, Owner of Cafe Christo told 22News, 'You know I'm looking forward to it, I really wanna see the changes. There's a lot of things they're gonna do, the forestry and all that.' 'People choose Forest Park to live here. It's a place they can live, work, and play, and I think at the end of the construction period it will be much better off,' adds Forest Park resident Kevin Sears. By the end of that period, the goal is to have a safer, more open, less congested area, so that the Forest Park community can flourish. 'My concern is that we keep coming out to support the local businesses so that they can continue to thrive during the construction,' Sears adds. WWLP-22News, an NBC affiliate, began broadcasting in March 1953 to provide local news, network, syndicated, and local programming to western Massachusetts. Watch the 22News Digital Edition weekdays at 4 p.m. on Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.