Northfield residents packed into the elementary school cafeteria last Thursday evening to view three final renderings of the proposed Schell pedestrian bridge set to replace the long-closed span linking East and West Northfield over the Connecticut River. There was a sense that the goal, more than a decade in the making by the Schell Bridge Advisory Committee, was actually coming to fruition — “in my lifetime!” exclaimed one member.
“We are really moving ahead here,” said state Sen. Stanley Rosenberg, who has been a key player in this project, which is run by the Massachusetts Department of Transportation and the state Department of Conservation and Recreation. Completion is expected by 2023.
But this is no swinging footbridge suspended from ropes. This is as wide as the present, long-condemned bridge and capable of handling a multi-ton maintenance vehicle owned by the state, which would be responsible for bridge upkeep. This tempts some Northfield residents to repeatedly call for its use as a routine shortcut for local emergency vehicles housed on Main Street that might be responding to fire or medical calls across the river. Access to West Northfield now is over the Bennett Meadow Bridge, which still feels like “the long way around” to old-timers who remember crossing to West Northfield over Schell Bridge, at least a mile upstream of Bennett Meadow Bridge. When seconds count, they argue, the closest bridge matters.
Main Street resident William McGee responded with some out-of-the-box thinking that would send an EMT or Paramedic with a jump kit across Schell pedestrian bridge in a rapid response vehicle like a snowmobile or similar “off-highway vehicle” while the full-size emergency behemoths went around. That way, saving human life would be prioritized and the big equipment would catch up to them within a few minutes.
Planning to use the bridge for town vehicles, including fire trucks, ambulances and police cruisers, would jeopardize the project’s funding, which is specifically intended to build a bridge that will promote walking and bicycling, toward the goal of better air quality. Multi-ton gas-guzzlers don’t fall into this category.
Northfield residents should keep their eyes on the prize, which is a pedestrian/biking bridge. The edifice, when built, could energize Northfield’s future as a tourist destination. And, with a little creativity, it could still offer a short cut to that heart-attack or stroke patient, when seconds matter.