Great Barrington — Any reopening of the Brookside Road Bridge, whether it is a repair project, a replacement project, or installing a temporary bridge, will take a considerable amount of time. That was the message given to residents at the Selectboard meeting on Monday, November 4, by representatives of MassDOT, Tighe & Bond engineers, and town officials.
The bridge was unexpectedly closed on May 2 following a routine inspection by MassDOT. The truss-style bridge crossing the Housatonic River was built in 1949, with a total length of 148.3 feet and a span length of 142.7 feet.
The Town Hall meeting room was packed with residents who live near the Brookside Road Bridge, and some of them spoke at the meeting demanding a quick resolution.
Meanwhile, MassDOT officials attended via Zoom, including MassDOT District 1 Director Francesca Hemming, Bridge Program Manager Robert Rottenbucher, and District Bridge Engineer Mark Devylder.
Also at the meeting were representatives from the company Tighe & Bond, including Senior Project Manager Dan Holmes and bridge engineer Andrea Lacasse.
Last year, the engineering company was contracted by the town for engineering surveys for a project that would have moved a temporary bridge at Division Street to replace the Brookside Road Bridge by 2025.
Hemming told the audience that MassDOT has contracted Benesch engineering consultants of Dorchester, Mass., for the design of a new bridge. “The design is progressing, and [Benesch] has to submit timelines for submitting the types of studies and other types of reports that we need,” Hemming said. “They have a lot of work to do ahead of them because they still have to do supplementaries, a field survey, soil borings, structural reports, and geotech reports. There is a lot of information that needs to be [obtained], and that is going to take some time.”
Hemming said that it would be possible for the company to have a 25 Percent Design submission for the project potentially by August 2026. A 25 Percent Design submission is a requirement for MassDOT projects and includes various traffic, safety, and design elements for a project.
In discussing Tighe & Bond’s project, Lacasse said that the company stopped work on taking the Division Street temporary bridge to replace the Brookside Road Bridge when MassDOT indicated that they would design a full bridge replacement.
In regards to funding for any project, State Rep. William “Smitty” Pignatelli (D – 3rd Berkshire District) said that $500,000 of state funds has been earmarked for the town for any Brookside Road-related bridge project. However, Rep. Pignatelli said that the funds are being held up by bureaucratic red tape. “[The funds are] stuck in conference committee right now, but the economic development bond bill should be shaken out any day now,” Rep. Pignatelli said. “We actually thought it would be done before the election, but more than likely it will be done in the next couple of weeks. A bond bill requires a roll call vote with the [State] House and Senate, and I fully anticipate that it will be done by the end of the year.”
Pignatelli added that any full bridge replacement project would take from to six to eight years to complete. Considering this, he suggested that the town include funds for a potential temporary bridge project in its fiscal 2026 budget. “But it is a process that the Selectboard and Finance committee would have to discuss, and then the voters at Town Meeting [would decide],” said Pignatelli.
Resident Tamar Halpern, one of many residents who spoke at the meeting, said that “the group here wants [a bridge replacement] as fast as possible.” “What I’m hearing is, at minimum, is six to eight years [for a bridge replacement],” Halpern said. “That’s unacceptable to us.”
Halpern asked Tighe & Bond engineers if the fastest way for a resolution is if the town purchased a new temporary Acrow bridge, or if the town should go ahead with a project to move the Division Street temporary bridge to Brookside Road.
“It would be a little faster to buy a new Acrow bridge, but there’s still the design process that needs to unfold in the permitting process,” Holmes said. “It’s not like we can go from three years down to one year. Simply because this bridge is available, you still have to follow [the permitting process].”
Halpern asked if there would be a way to open one lane to traffic on the current Brookside Road Bridge. Both Holmes and Lacasse said they have not undertaken any study on this, and Lacasse added that Tighe & Bond did not see the complete MassDOT inspection report.
“I don’t understand, given the business you are in and what you are doing, and you got $137,000 from the town,” Halpern said. “Why don’t you have the report that the state did an inspection?”
“What Tighe & Bond was doing for the town was planning ahead for when the temporary bridge at Division Street was ready,” said Department of Public Works Superintendent Joseph Aberdale. “It has nothing to do with examining the existing state structures”
Halpern went on to question Hemming regarding MassDOT reports about the bridge sent to the town. “For almost a decade now, you’ve been sending inspection reports every other year requesting that the town do repairs,” Halpern said. “Is that a fair statement?”
“We are not actually saying that the town should do repairs,” Hemming said. “We write the reports, we send it to the town, and we tell them that they have deficiencies on the bridge. If they have deficiencies, it is their responsibility to maintain [the bridge].”
Hemming emphasized that it is the town’s responsibility to decide on making any repairs to its infrastructure, and not the responsibility of MassDOT.
Later, when the meeting turned to a discussion on funding for any project, Rottenbucher said funding for a replacement bridge “is not an issue.” “We have the funding and the money for a replacement bridge,” Rottenbucher said. “A temporary bridge is a different story because that would be the town’s responsibility. That money would not come from [MassDOT] for the temporary bridge.”
Towards the end of the discussion, Selectboard Chair Steve Bannon said that Town Manager Mark Pruhenski has added funding for a temporary bridge project in a draft of the fiscal 2026 budget, but that the Selectboard and Finance Committee would have to review the proposed funding before it went before residents at Town Meeting. “There’s nothing quick about this process,” Bannon said, responding to multiple comments from residents that any project should be completed as soon as possible. “It’s not anyone’s fault, but there are regulations. Nothing is quick.”
Aberdale said that, while a repair project for the bridge has been discussed, it has not been investigated by the town. “If there is money available, we could send Tighe & Bond to go and double check [the bridge], and send it to MassDOT for their reviews and approvals,” Aberdale said. “But some of the highest professionals in the state have already looked at that bridge and said it’s not worth repairing.”
Before getting off the Zoom meeting, Hemming asked Bannon if the Selectboard needed anything else from her.
“Probably prayers,” Bannon responded.
During the meeting, members of the Brookside Neighbors Group distributed a printed compilation of statements from residents about the impact of the closing of the bridge. A PDF file of the compilation can be found here.
A copy of the June MassDOT report about the bridge can be found here.
