ORANGE — For nearly three years, travelers on East Road have come to an abrupt halt upon reaching the bridge over West Brook.
With grant money and a contract in place, the town is moving forward in replacing the East Road bridge, which connects North Orange to Route 2A and the rest of Orange.
“I anticipate it will be done by the fall or wintertime,” said Town Administrator Gabriel Voelker.
The Selectboard gave Chairman Ryan Mailloux the authority to sign a contract with Tighe & Bond Wednesday night for a final engineering consultation before construction begins.
The project is being paid with a $420,000 state grant from the Baker-Polito Administration’s Small Bridge Program — a portion of $5.2 million awarded in January to 12 communities to repair or replace small (10 to 20 feet long) bridges.
While the bridge is quite small, the length of time it has been closed and its location in a residential area has created some problems.
The police department first announced the closing of the bridge on November 20, 2015.
With cracks in the bridge and the rough condition of the roadway visible, and with ice jams at the bridge — which cause flooding — mentioned in Orange Local Multi-Hazard Mitigation Planning Committee reports as far back as 2011, the Selectboard was quick to approve the Tighe & Bond contract.
Selectboard member Tom Smith said he has for years had to turn onto side streets to avoid the closed bridge, and, as a school bus driver, this has added time and inconvenience when trying to get children to school.
“I have to tell you, for all the parents and kids, that is my bus route and it has been years,” Smith said Wednesday.
While the bridge may not be fixed before the new school year begins, Smith was happy to see some progress with the project.
Voelker also is eager to get the project done, and said “we really need to start the work so its not a project that lingers on and on.”
The contract with Tighe & Bond carries a $1 million liability insurance clause — covered by Tighe & Bond — in case the bridge fails.
Any time there is a road project, Voelker said, the liability insurance often won’t cover the full cost if “something were to happen” to the bridge, and the town would end up paying money to fix it again.
Still, opening the three-mile throughway completely has “caused great excitement” within town, Voelker said.