NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — Mayor Jennifer Macksey clarified the two diverse projects for the Veterans Memorial Bridge and the expectation of the Brown Street bridge being repaired. 

 

 "We have a contract underway," she told the City Council on Tuesday night. "Our apparent low bidder for the Brown Street bridge repair is J.H. Maxymillian, and no one have a heart attack, $349,920. We are putting together contract documents and funding sources as we speak, but we hope to have that started very, very soon and open before snow flies."

 

The bridge has been closed for more than two years after being found "structurally deficient" by the state Department of Transportation. The 26-foot steel structure's poor condition was well known at the time and it was listed with 19 other bridges in the Berkshires requiring repairs or replacement using funding from the federal Bipartisan Infrastructure Act. The bridge had been listed for superstructure replacement at an estimated $1 million by MassDOT in 2021 but is now part of a single project with several Berkshire bridges for "preservation" with a 2027 construction date.

 

 Councilor Keith Bona questioned the low figure for the work and the mayor said it is be for a temporary repair. 

 

 "It's repairing some of the saddles underneath and some of the footings, the footings on one side of the bridge," she said. "The problem with that bridge was weight limit. One saddle was holding like three sides, three areas. So we're excited to get that done, especially with EMS, and, God forbid we have another flood, we need to be able to access both sides, and it's been very, very difficult for us to navigate."

 

 Brown Street connects Route 2 with River Street; Northern Berkshire EMS is headquartered almost directly across from the closed bridge.

 

The mayor said the city has some state Chapter 90 road funds that can be used for the project. She had been concerned that the cost would come in at half-million. "We're at a good point now," she said. 

 

Macksey also noted that the bridge is still on the Transportation Improvement Plan so she didn't think it would be another 10 years to get it replaced, "but at least we can get it open and accessible."

 

The fixes to the Veterans Memorial Bridge will also be temporary, she said, in clarifying why the city is both looking to repair the structure and to tear it down. 

 

A number of residents at a public hearing on the project were baffled that the state was moving ahead with a repair after nearly a year of community meetings discussing options for connecting Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art with the downtown. 

 

"What we call the Reconnecting Communities grant, which its focus is basically a study of the overpass, but its secondary focus is a study of our transportation systems to and through and from North Adams," said Macksey. "So not only is it studying the bridge and what could or couldn't be is also studying our traffic patterns at I call them our six touch points of intersections throughout the downtown."

 

Stoss Landscape Urbanism was selected to conduct the federally funded study and should have a first draft of recommendations to the mayor's office next week. Macksey said she expects a final report around Sept. 30, after which Stoss will be invited to give a presentation to the council. 

 

What's causing confusion was the MassDOT public hearing on July 25, at which engineers laid out plans for a "temporary" repair at a cost of $19 million. Macksey, who did not attend the hearing, said the 60-year-old bridge was submitted to TIP when she first worked for the city more than 20 years ago. 

 

"So that's how long ago that we've been waiting for this," she said. "We have two projects going kind of at the same time, and people need to remember that Reconnecting Communities is a feasibility study, whereas the MassDOT project is an actual physical construction project."

 

The mayor said she could tell MassDOT not to do the project but there's no guarantee funding will come through for Reconnecting Communities. Plus, the temporary repair of one set of saddles done by District 1 is only expected to last 12 to 18 months — and doesn't touch the other saddles that are also in disrepair.

 

"So at any time, when we have an inspection, MassDOT could say, now you have a problem on the other side, or they could come in and say, the load is shifting too much. You have to close the bridge," she said. "With Reconnecting Communities — this is a feasibility study. We don't have any money earmarked. We don't have any money in the pipeline. And it's not just about the bridge. It's about transportation and connecting all those touch points. ...

 

"We're building a vision, and from that vision, then we get the funding to execute and have outcomes. But the just the permitting piece for taking down the bridge could take a whole other year. That's a year I don't have for the bridge repair."

 

Councilor Ashley Shade said the focus was on safety: "We need it to be safe for people to use, until the bridge comes down, if we decide that we don't want it anymore, rather than letting it crumble and fall apart and causing safety and hazards and things of that nature."

 

The mayor said she "inherited three bad bridges" and that infrastructure issues always remain. But it doesn't mean the city is abandoning Reconnecting Communities. 

 

MassDOT anticipates going out to bid in the winter and beginning construction in early spring. Plans are to keep at least one lane of the bridge open and divert traffic over the West Main Street spur to the Main Street intersection. 

 

In other business, the mayor read a proclamation for the 50th anniversary of the Friends of the North Adams Library. The Friends will have a celebration on Friday at 4:30 on the library lawn, followed by a talk by columnist and author Joyce Maynard in the banquet room at Hotel Downstreet at 6 p.m.

 

The mayor announced the appointment of Councilor Andrew Fitch to the Airport Commission to fill the unexpired term of William Diamond. The commission has lost most of its members and been unable to convene a quorum to meet. Macksey said it was not usual to appoint a sitting councilor but Fitch has been passionate about the airport.

 

"Andrew has a unique background, as he's worked at the Marshfield municipal airport when he was in high school and college, and he's done everything from mowing lawns to tying down aircraft to communicating to pilots on radios. And has a good overview of what it takes to run an airport," she said. "We talked about a short temporary appointment, but one that is very positive and helps us. So his biggest charge is going to be to join the other commissioners in helping us hire an airport manager."

 

Fitch said he'd offered his service, feeling the airport is worth focusing on despite the struggles the commission has had. He noted the economic output of Harriman and West, based on MassDOT data, was "staggering" at $11,259,000, with $3.6 million in salaries and $467,000 in sales and income tax.

 

"This is a real driver for our economy, providing some great jobs for people around here," he said. "So that's why I'm so excited about this and passionate about this. ... It's a hard challenge, but I think it's worth it, one that's worth fighting for."