CHARLEMONT — Charlemont, a town of 46 bridges, just got good news from the Massachusetts Department of Transportation: two of its now-closed, town-owned bridges will be replaced under the state’s TIP or Transportation Improvement Program.
This year, selectmen estimated that this town of about 1,200 residents has a $5 million bridge problem. They have been searching for grants and programs to help pay for repairs and replacements of bridges that have seen years of deferred maintenance. Recently, the town also enacted a capital planning bylaw which establishes a Capital Planning Committee to inventory town property and schedule routine maintenance and improvements, to minimize the future possibility of having several bridges out all at once.
Town Administrator Peg Dean said the West Oxbow Road bridge and the Tower Road bridge will be replaced by the state. The town-owned, 1940-built West Oxbow Road bridge was closed in August and replaced with a temporary bridge on loan from the state. The Tower Road bridge was closed in October.
According to a bridge report presented by Selectmen in March, the closed West Oxbow Road bridge is expected to cost at least $500,000. Daily traffic on that bridge was calculated at 100 vehicles in 2007.
According to Selectman Sarah Reynolds, replacing the closed Tower Road bridge is expected to cost around $865,000, based on 2015 estimates. Reynolds said the bridges will go onto a list of TIP projects; however, she is not sure when the work is likely to be completed.
If the state adopts a Small Bridge Program to provide money for failing bridges of up to 20 feet long, the town will apply for a grant to repair the two closed Maxwell Road bridges. According to the selectmen’s bridge report, the cost to restore the northern-most bridge would be about $180,000, while the cost to fix the southern bridge, which needs abutment work, would be about $255,000.
Besides the four closed bridges, two bridges on Route 8A have been weight-restricted, following state inspections, and restoring them to full use is among the town’s bridge priorities.
“A preliminary engineering study prepared by Gill Engineering has detailed the work that needs to be accomplished on those bridges most in need of repair,” said Dean. “The town is working to make those repairs in a systematic way as funds become available.”