MassDOT Takes on Clarksburg Bridge Project
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CLARKSBURG, Mass. — The town has some good news, and some bad.
It's been informed that the state Department of Transportation is taking over the Cross Road bridge project.
But it may take another four or five years to get done.
And it's still got $500,000 for the school roof — but the state bond bill it's sitting in is set to expire in two weeks.
"It's a level of frustration between waiting for years and years and years for the bridge, waiting years and years and years for the roof is almost unbearable," said Chair Jeffrey Levanos. "I mean, it's just the money's there."
"It's the plight of a small town," responded Town Administrator Carl McKinney at Wednesday's meeting.
The Cross Road bridge had been closed to two-lane traffic since 2017 and officials have been researching costs and pressing the state to understand the peril it posed to the town. The bridge over Hudson Brook cuts the town in half and separates the Fire Department from the school and Community Center.
Select Board member Robert Norcross said the town had been informed by letter that MassDOT had determined to take on the bridge replacement.
It was listed on the Highway Division's project list in April and approved by the Project Review Committee on June 1. It is currently in preliminary design phase with an estimated cost of $5.6 million.
The span was recently downgraded and Norcross thought that had played into the state's decision. Still, he said, it could be four or five years because it will be prioritized against other bridge projects awaiting funds.
"This is the first major step of getting it. So that's all good news," Norcross said. "And I know it's an inconvenience for everybody. But I think it's still worth it even having to wait three, four or five years to get the money."
Preliminary engineering in 2017 had put the price tag north of $2 million, McKinney said, "that certainly is money the town does not have."
Hopes for the half-million for the school that then state Sen. Adam Hinds put in the five-year bond bill have been fading. Town officials have pushed for the governor to release the funds to no avail.
The state government had questioned the use of taxpayer funds on the school building, which the Massachusetts School Building Authority had determined was no longer up to state educational standards.
Board members had hoped to meet with its state representatives to show them the town's commitment to the school.
Voters had rejected a $19 million school building project but have invested in the building to address accessibility and other needs.
"We would like to show them the work that we've done at the elementary school," said McKinney. "We pumped well over a million dollars of town money into the school over the last six years. It's a viable school, our population in the school is rising."
Norcross pointed out that it was not just money but volunteer hours as well.
The bond bill is set to expire when the fiscal year ends on June 30 but board members are hoping for an extension or it will be duplicated in a new bond bill.
Wednesday's meeting as lengthy, covering a wide range of items.
The board reorganized with Levanos nominating Norcross as the new chair and Dan Haskins as vice chair, with Levanos as second vice chair.
They discussed changing the meeting time after complaints at town meeting about the daytime schedule but then voted to keep at 1 p.m. on the second and fourth Wednesdays. Should a topic arise of significant citizen interest, a meeting will be scheduled in the evening.
• Colton Andrews, who had lost a race for school Committee, was appointed to the Planning Board for one-year term.
• The treasurer notified the board that she was fixing errors from property bills in 2021. Some bills did not go out or were sent late and residents charged interest; that is being rectified.
"It's a problem that the town owns, that the town created and we fell that the residents should not be responsible," said McKinney.
• The board also approved a resolution to the state to encourage that mattress and paint manufacturers be responsible for recycling their products. Mattresses can no longer be disposed of at transfer stations or landfills and must be recycled at certified facilities.
Tags: bridge project, MassDOT,
