Hadley Overpass:"It's Not A Pretty Sight"

By Susan Bush
12:00AM / Thursday, February 01, 2007

MassHighway Commissioner Luysa Paiewonsky at the Hadley Overpass on Feb. 1.

North Adams - Massachusetts Highway Commissioner Luysa Paiewonsky termed the Hadley Overpass repair saga chronology "discouraging" during a visit to the city today, but also pledged that a proposed rehabilitation process now underway will come to completion.

"It's not a pretty sight," Paiewonsky said as she stood in a frigid wind and looked at the underside of the bridge accompanied by city Mayor John Barrett III, Massachusetts Highway District 1 Director Peter Niles and state Rep. Daniel Bosley D-North Adams

"Looking at it now, I can see that getting it done quickly is important."

Bids Out In 2008

MassHighway District 1 Director Peter Niles

Paiewonsky is not the first MassHighway Commissioner to promise progress at the decades-old bridge - in reality, she is the fourth, said Barrett - but he also emphasized that he believes she is the one who will accomplish the task.

Barrett said that Paiewonsky traveled to the city to assure him that a scheduled March overpass public hearing will occur, and that a rehabilitation design is at the 25 percent phase, which is a process milestone. Barrett said he expects the estimated $10 million project will go out to bid in a year, and Paiewonsky also said bids could go out in 2008.

The bridge will not be removed and rebuilt for several reasons, among them, a desire to streamline the construction process, she said.

"This project has a long and complicated history," she said, and added that attacking the project as a rehabilitation as opposed to a rebuilding "simplifies the process."

Governor Wants To See Progress

Gov. Deval Patrick has had a first-hand look at the peeling, heavily-rusted, green-painted structure, and recognized that work needed to move forward, Barrett and Paiewonsky said.

"The Governor wants to see some progress on this project," she said. "It's our job at MassHighway to get these things done."

The rehabilitation will involve a "stripping" of the bridge, and replacement of trusses, bridge subsections, beams, deck, railings, and more, said Niles. Stairs that lead from a parking area off of American Legion Drive will be removed and not replaced, Barrett said. The stairs are currently considered unsafe for use and have been closed to the public for years.

"[The bridge] is one of the major corridors of the city," said Bosley. "It has to be done right."

Work is unlikely to disrupt a north-south Route 8 traffic flow to a great degree because two travel lanes will be kept open, Barrett said. The 940-foot-long span is the longest bridge in Berkshire County and is the most heavily traveled route into the city. The bridge passes directly by City Hall.

North Adams Mayor John Barrett III

Parking Changes, Period Lighting Likely

Its' unattractive appearance has generated volunteer pleas from folks willing to paint the bridge, as well as repair advocacy from a list of people that includes former Gov. Michael Dukakis, Barrett said.

Among the reasons volunteers have been unable to paint the bridge is that lead-based paint is present on the bridge.

The proposed rehabilitation project will cost the Western Heritage Gateway State Park some parking spaces near the Freight Yard Pub restaurant, but Barrett said new parking spaces will be found to mitigate the loss.

The new bridge design will likely incorporate period lighting similar to the lighting used in the downtown and along the Route 2 corridor, Barrett, Bosley, and Paiewonsky said.

"The Mayor has made it clear that this has to be compatible with the downtown," Paiewonsky said.

Paiewonsky initiated contact with the city, Barrett said, and Paiewonsky said that she is committed to maintaining strong communication with the city.

"We will be working with the Mayor's office to make a public announcement, a public hearing, to get public comments," she said.

"A public hearing is farther than we've gotten before," Barrett noted.

Galvin Road

There is also optimism that a pedestrian bridge will be erected at the site of the former Galvin Road bridge, Barrett said.

The bridge was closed in the 1980s and was removed in 2005. The bridge was considered an historical structure and is currently housed at the University of Massachusetts.