MONTAGUE – With the hope of finding an exception to the rule, Turners Falls, Greenfield and South Deerfield Fire Departments are working on getting fire trucks across the General Pierce Bridge.
Last week, following a recent inspection, the state decided to not renew waivers for the Turners Falls Fire Department to cross the bridge that has been the object of complaints and sub-par inspections for years. Subsequently, Greenfield and South Deerfield Fire Department also had their waivers for crossing the bridge revoked, according to MassDOT.
The bridge is limited to 20 tons for two-axle vehicles, 25 tons for three-axle vehicles and 36 tons for five-axle vehicles, according to MassDOT.
Turners Falls Fire Chief John Zellmann told the Selectboard he reapplied for a waiver for one engine, and that was granted.
“Last week I took one fully loaded engine, and got its exact weight, then I started calling MassDOT,” Zellmann said. “I sent them a second request, and as of last Friday afternoon, I’m able to cross with one fire engine, but no ladder truck. The other frontline pieces cannot cross.”
The bridge almost routinely has emergency closures to fix issues, including two weeks ago, when emergency repair caused it to close on Friday, Jan. 18, from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m., or when it had a 9-inch hole in it in 2016.
Zellmann said the closure two weeks ago made it difficult to travel through town.
“We couldn’t get out of town if we wanted to, because traffic was backed up,” Zellmann said. “The same thing would have happened if it was Greenfield coming to us. We’re adding five to eight minutes to the normal response time, depending on where we are.”
Zellmann said Turners Falls Fire and the other departments’ ladder trucks will not be approved to pass the bridge, because they are too heavy – estimating Greenfield’s aerial truck weight at about 75,000 to 76,000 pounds.
Weight-limit waivers requested by the Greenfield and South Deerfield fire departments are currently under review by MassDOT. All weight-limit waiver requests are reviewed by MassDOT on a case-by-case basis, according to MassDOT.
MassDOT officials told The Recorder at the time the state had yet to set aside money to fix the bridge, but were likely going to include it in its five-year capital investment plan — at a potential cost of $18 million.
Later in 2016, the state’s Transportation Improvement Plan for Franklin County was released and listed the General Pierce Bridge to be addressed in 2019. Rehabilitation plans, though, were pushed to 2021 by MassDOT around the same time. In 2017, the bridge was scheduled for major rehabilitation work, which was not done because of simultaneous repairs to the Turners Falls-Gill Bridge.
Due to the current restrictions, the fire departments have determined different ways of responding to calls to other towns.