NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — Among the last bills signed by outgoing Gov. Charlie Baker was an order dedicating a bridge on Route 2 for the late Capitol Police Officer Billy Evans.

 

The bill filed by state Rep. John Barrett III will designate the Greylock bridge near West's Variety as the William F. Evans Memorial Bridge. 

 

Evans, 41, was killed in the line of duty on April 2, 2021, when a man rammed his car into at a barrier on the north side of the Capitol building in Washington, D.C., then got out and lunged at officers with a knife. He was a city native who later grew up in Clarksburg and graduated from Drury High School in 1998. He was buried in Bellevue Cemetery in Adams. 

 

Barrett, in a post on Facebook, said he had reached out to Evans' family and while his mother, Janice, was initially appreciative, she "didn't want to be in the limelight, and she knew in her heart that it wouldn't bring back Billy."

 

"My only response was that I just wanted to make sure that this generation, as well as future generations, would never forget Billy Evans and the sacrifice he made on that fateful day protecting our democracy," Barrett wrote. Janice Evans later contacted him agreeing that the bridge dedication would be "a nice way to honor Billy." 

 

Unfortunately, she died on Dec. 14, two weeks before the bill passed the Legislature, and did not see the final design for the memorial plaque.

 

The plaque will state that "On April 2, 2021 United States Capitol Police Officer William 'Billy' Evans completed his final watch defending the United States Capitol Building." The state Department of Transportation will install signage on both ends of the bridge and the plaque following the bridge renovation, which is being funded through this year's Transportation Improvement Plan at a cost of $18.5 million. 

 

Barrett wrote that the bridge is close to the neighborhood where Evans first grew up and near Greylock Elementary School, which he attended. 

 

"I just wanted to make sure that this generation, as well as future generations, would never forget Billy Evans and the sacrifice he made on that fateful day protecting our democracy," wrote Barrett. 

 

The bridge dedication was one of a number of last legislative acts signed by Baker for the Berkshires. Also enacted was change to Williamstown's charter allowing the town manager to live outside the bounds of the town; to change the name of the Board of Selectmen in Lee to the Select Board; and to allow for original documents held by the town of Stockbridge that were created by the Mohican Nation prior to 1870 to be transferred to the Stockbridge-Munsee Community of the Mohican Nation upon an authorizing vote by the board of selectmen.