When Colrain citizens asked about driving cars over the covered bridge, selectmen refused, for “safety and enforcement reasons.” What reasons? Guard rail regulations? Where are the records when selectmen signed off on the bridge project when Jim Sturgeon was working with the state engineer? Voters need more information before the May Town Meeting.
Why didn’t the reporter ask the fire chief why he thinks fire trucks need to pass through that bridge? Citizens asked for cars only. He knows the fire department never drives through. Fire trucks can reach it from both ends.
Resources: What are the “inefficient resources (needed) to enforce regulations?” What regulations? Inefficient? If he meant insufficient and the police account has insufficient funds, we should vote to park the Colrain police car in Colrain, rather than wasting tax money on gas driving back and forth from Buckland.
Why did the officer say drivers have “difficulty seeing oncoming traffic on Foundry Village Road when exiting?” What! That bridge is on Lyonsville Road. Safety? Citizens are asking for one-way traffic, entering down the hill below Foundry Village Road.
Unrealistic comparisons! Accidents on other roads at 50 mph can not be compared to imagined damages to the covered bridge. Require speed bumps and 15 mph. Damages? Historically, cars traversed the covered bridge, summer and winter, even though cars in 1940s, 1950s and 1960s were much larger and heavier. Actually, years ago when the Willis Place Bridge was unsafe, Colrain Selectmen ordered Cary Cider Mill and all the farmers to truck their loads through the Lyonsville Bridge.
Historic? If the original Tom Fox Bridge sat over the river, down river, it would be historic. However, because the Lyonsville Bridge was beyond repair and the Tom Fox Bridge removed, piece by piece, hauled to Lyonsville, and reassembled later, people forgot about Tom Fox and began calling it the Arthur A. Smith Bridge. Years later, that bridge was removed too. It sat in the field for awhile. Then, for months we watched, and took pictures, as all that new lumber was hoisted into place. Yes, the new bridge is unique, but that doesn’t make it historic.
Who knows about the Tom Fox Bridge? Where is the replacement Arthur A. Smith Bridge? Gone! Both are gone! Where they stood, Colrain now has a very expensive walkway. Why can’t Colrain citizens drive their cars through that covered bridge?
M.E. Russell is a resident of Colrain.