The French King Bridge barrier project went out to bid Jan. 8, marking another step in the process to address safety concerns.
The project to install safety barriers at the bridge, which has garnered a reputation as a destination for suicides, was delayed after being kept off the state Department of Transportation’s Capital Investment Plan in the spring of 2020. It wasn’t until last February, following a series of inquiries from town officials, that MassDOT announced the project is finally moving ahead, with construction planned for the summer of 2022.
The project, which will cost more than $3.9 million, will be funded 80% by the Federal Highway Administration and 20% by MassDOT.
“We’re all hoping that this project comes in on budget and keeps moving forward,” Assistant Town Planner Mariah Kurtz wrote in an email Monday that accompanied the bid announcement.
Once bids are in, MassDOT will analyze and evaluate each bid on March 1. This process will affirm that each bid is accompanied by all required documentation before a qualifying company with the lowest bid is selected to perform the construction.
Town officials and public safety workers have advocated that the existing railings, which are about 3½ feet tall, are not sufficient, and that taller barriers would make the bridge less of a draw to those contemplating suicide.
According to David Comerford of MassDOT’s contracted design firm Gill Engineering, the barriers will be 9 feet tall, and are intended to match the style of the bridge and limit disrupting the view of the Connecticut River. The design was endorsed by the Selectboards of Gill and Erving.
“Once I can see that it’s done, and I can walk across that bridge and know that some other mom isn’t going to have to walk up there and cry, then I’m good,” Oxford resident Stacey Hamel, whose stepson, Bryan Hamel, was suspected to have jumped from the bridge, said previously.
Reach Julian Mendoza at 413-772-0261, ext. 261 or jmendoza@recorder.com.
An earlier version of this article contained an inaccuracy regarding dates in the bidding process. The project went out to bid on Jan. 8, and MassDOT will review the bids on March 1.