BERNARDSTON — After learning the Turners Falls Road bridge is 6 inches too short to be eligible for a Municipal Small Bridge Program grant, the Selectboard got news that’s almost too good to be true: the project will get state money after all.
According to a Bernardston press release, by way of a municipal agreement with the Massachusetts Department of Transportation, the state will reimburse up to $415,607 of the bridge replacement’s cost thanks to legwork by Lt. Gov. Karyn Polito.
“When the lieutenant governor was in town signing the Community Compact in April, we took the opportunity to highlight the bridge project issue with her,” Selectboard Chairman Stanley Garland was quoted as saying in the release.
The bridge, which is more than 60 years old, was identified as structurally compromised in the summer of 2015, Town Coordinator Hugh Campbell said previously. Structural engineers from Stantec, an architecture and engineering consulting firm out of Auburn, N.H., recommended the bridge have a nine-ton weight limit, which was implemented in the interest of public safety.
Turners Falls Road, Campbell said, is a heavily traveled local artery between Bernardston, Montague, Gill and Route 2. The limit forces construction vehicles, tractor-trailers, school buses and other large vehicles to travel out of their way to avoid the bridge that traverses Dry Brook.
Though town voters approved a $350,000 borrowing measure to have the bridge replaced, the Selectboard hoped to minimize the tax burden on residents and applied for a MassDOT Municipal Small Bridge Program grant in September. However, with a span of 9 feet, 6 inches, it did not meet the program’s 10-foot minimum length.
After speaking to Polito in April, Campbell said he received an unexpected but welcome call from her saying the project will be reimbursed through MassDOT. The news was announced during a Selectboard meeting Tuesday.
“As bills come in, we’ll pay them,” Campbell explained. “Then we can seek reimbursement.” Campbell anticipates bills will be reimbursed within four to six weeks.
Though the initial estimated cost of the project was $350,000, updated estimates are closer to $390,000 with additional design requirements to meet the 35-mile-per-hour speed limit set across the bridge, according to the release.
Design and environmental permitting thus far has cost the town $60,000, which will not be reimbursed, the release continues. Currently, Stantec is in the final stages of permitting and MassDOT review, with construction expected to start this summer after a public bid for general contractors.