TURNERS FALLS — Traffic at the Turners Falls-Gill Bridge may get even more congested next week. The bridge is scheduled for inspection by the state, but it remains unclear if the bridge will have to be reduced to one lane.
With the recent closure of the General Pierce Bridge, the Turners Falls-Gill Bridge is the only major road between Turners Falls and Greenfield. Other detours would involve traveling through Millers Falls or Sunderland.
The only other bridge in Turners Falls, the much smaller bridge at Fifth Street, has already become quite congested, said Montague Police Chief Chris Williams.
“You would have thought they would have done this before closing the General Pierce Bridge,” Williams said. “I don’t know who does the scheduling for these guys.”
The state Department of Transportation (MassDOT) alerted the town this week that it would be doing a routine inspection on the Turners Falls-Gill Bridge starting on Monday, May 10, and potentially going through the end of the week. The Montague Police Department informed travelers through a post on its Facebook page Tuesday.
Whether traffic on the bridge will have to be reduced is not known. MassDOT told the town it wouldn’t know until the end of the day on May 10.
MassDOT’s public relations department did not respond to a request for comment.
Montague Public Works Superintendent Tom Bergeron believes it was unlikely MassDOT will have to close the bridge completely. If there is any traffic reduction, he said, it would most likely be reduced to one lane. Still, any limits on the Turners Falls-Gill Bridge will likely make for significant traffic backups in Turners Falls.
Last month the General Pierce Bridge was closed for a renovation project overseen by MassDOT, which is expected to last through fall 2023. The Turners Falls-Gill Bridge was recommended by MassDOT as the best alternate route for crossing the river between Montague and Greenfield. The larger General Pierce project also included small changes to the Turners Falls-Gill Bridge to handle the extra traffic.
The much smaller bridge at Fifth Street has also become a popular option, Williams said. But the roads in that area are narrow, and the extra traffic has already caused major backups, he said.
It is in fact so bad that MassDOT is now running a study on the intersection where the Fifth Street bridge meets Canal Street to determine whether a traffic light is necessary, according to Williams. With the extra traffic on the bridge, left turns especially tend to cause backups, he said.
Beyond the Turners Falls-Gill Bridge and the small Fifth Street bridge, the fastest way across the river would be through Millers Falls, where Route 63 meets Route 2.
“That’s really the only other option,” Williams said. “It’s truly frustrating.”
Reach Max Marcus at mmarcus@recorder.com or 413-930-4231.