Great Barrington — Engineers from the state’s Department of Transportation will be meeting with town officials for a meeting concerning the closed bridge on Brookside Road on Wednesday, May 22.
The bridge was unexpectedly closed by MassDOT on May 2 after a routine inspection.
According to MassDOT spokesperson John Goggin, a bridge inspection found extensive and severe deterioration to the floor beams of the bridge, including severe section loss and perforations.
The bridge was built in 1949, with a total length of 148.3 feet, and a span length of 142.7 feet, and is a truss bridge that goes over the Housatonic River.
After the bridge was closed, in a press release issued by the town, Public Works Superintendent Joe Aberdale said that load limits on older trestle bridges have been disregarded for years by heavy vehicles and that the usage has, more than likely, taken a toll on the bridge.
The closure has impacted residents who live on Brookside Road, Brush Hill Road, and residents located in the vicinity of the bridge.
At the Selectboard’s meeting on Wednesday, May 15, Town Manager Mark Pruhenski said that the town has received multiple requests from residents about when the bridge will be reopened.
”The short answer is that it is too soon for us to answer this question at this point,” Pruhenski said “I did send an email out to as many email addresses that I have for the folks living in that part of the neighborhood [where the bridge is] to start to open the lines of future communication. I will share a more detailed update as soon as we have some more information available.”
Pruhenski added that the town has emergency dispatch response protocols in place with the local dispatch center and a dispatch center in Pittsfield.
In an email to The Berkshire Edge, Pruhenski wrote that the meeting between MassDOT and town officials on May 22 would not be open to the public.
During the citizen’s comments portion of the May 15 meeting, several residents expressed their concerns about the bridge closure, including Meredith Smyth, who is a resident of Brookside Road and an employee of Union for Reform Judaism’s (URJ) Eisner Camp.
The summer camp is located at 53 Brookside Road, and according to its website, the opening day for the camp is scheduled for June 30.
“As we collectively await an inspection report and recommendation from the engineers, we want the town to explore every avenue available to us to restore access, even if it is only partially or temporarily,” Smyth said. “We come before you today to propose an urgent and creative solution to this pressing issue. If the engineering report confirms that the bridge’s integrity can sustain the weight of a single car at a time, we’re asking that immediate action be taken to implement a temporary solution. One feasible option is to install a high-performance bar and a barrier to restrict larger vehicles such as buses and tractor-trailers from coming across. This will allow smaller vehicles to safely traverse the bridge via one lane alleviating some of the burden placed on our community by the closure. While you must await that engineering report and consider any additional factors. I do implore that town officials pursue this option vigorously. The safety and well-being of our community members are at stake and the town should pursue options to restore access to cross the bridge as soon as possible.”
Greg Lipper, who lives on Brush Hill Road, said the bridge’s closure has caused inconveniences for both himself and his family.
“We have kids coming to visit and we’re worried about them driving at night on the back roads,” Lipper said. “There is a fair amount of concern all about the traffic that has been diverted to these back roads. We understand that you can’t just snap your fingers and find the money and permits for a solution.”
Lipper said that he supports Smyth’s idea to reopen the bridge to traffic for one car at a time.
“We want to support [the town] in finding a low-cost, but quick solution because this is causing us a fair amount of stress,” Lipper said. “We’re worried about the summer in particular, and we’re also worried about the winter and the icy roads. We also have several elderly people who live on the road.”
James Fagin told the Selectboard that he has been living on Brush Hill Road for over 25 years with his wife, Alane.
“The closure of the bridge impacts directly on the safety and well-being of our community,” Fagin said. “As a physician, I am particularly concerned about interference with access by emergency vehicles such as police, ambulances, and fire trucks. [The bridge closure] increases the time that it takes for residents to get into town and it may be viewed as an inconvenience, but interrupting access by an ambulance or a fire truck can result in life-threatening disaster. The bridge closure forces all Brush Hill Road incoming and outgoing traffic to utilize East Sheffield Road. Anyone who has traveled on East Sheffield Road knows that the road is narrow, curvy, and filled with potholes devoid of guardrails. The road is potentially dangerous even in good weather and the road is used by runners and bikers, which makes vehicular traffic even trickier. Furthermore, Joe Wilkinson’s Excavating Company is located at [1551 Boardman Street] and he has large trucks that regularly access East Sheffield Road, adding another obstacle to the flow of traffic.”
Fagin added that he is concerned about emergency vehicle access to Eisner Camp and to residents in the area.
“This [closure] imposes an unacceptable delay for emergency vehicles to arrive expeditiously to an emergency in our community,” Fagin said. “It’s very clear, we need the Brookside Road bridge reopened.”
