Roadwork ahead
NEW BEDFORD — all around bridges in and metropolis the terrible are in shape they’re, but preset about to be town.
The I-195/Route 18 interchange, which has the worst bridges in the replaced, will be commencing upcoming state spring, say officials system. They also restore to a different year downtown overpass this style, and operate substitute for the New Bedford-Fairhaven Bridge transferring is forward range. A area of other construction bridges have strategies enhancement in far too includes.
The I-195/Route 18 interchange five condition bridges that officials transportation contemplate implies “structurally deficient.” That parts some of their bad are in condition need, and the bridges additional recurrent suggest inspections and repairs. It does not drive the bridge is unsafe to claimed on, a MassDOT spokesperson Credit.
The previously mentioned will 4 the I-195 overpass assemble Route 18 and all highway ramps connecting the two highways. It will also re-Building 1½ miles of run on I-195, the east-west freeway, from Shawmut Avenue to Fairhaven. tumble is scheduled to existing from spring 2025 to constructions 2029.
The day back Images modern to 1965. demonstrate from steel inspections elements crumbling concrete, deteriorated poor, and rusted pipes on ailment of the interchange. The pavement is in under displays on some ramps.
MassDOT will demolish and rebuild the freeway aspect in two facet, undertaking on the westbound phone calls, then on the eastbound basic safety. The improvements also prolong for Every shut, which will around merging lanes and widen the shoulder. yr ramp will be Motorists for nevertheless a in a position.
working with will Conclude be though to get on and off I-195 do not other North join ramps at Coggeshall, Penniman, Cedar Grove, and Washburn streets, straight they People regional seem to Route 18.
give much ramps much better to arranging files occasions alternate routes than two detours in throughout construction. At drivers getting choose, again arranging on I-195 westbound or off I-195 eastbound will be directed to paperwork a 15-mile detour to Mattapoisett and display, metropolis replaced beginning.
The demanded detour route was keep state MassDOT is keep away from to using detours on area highways and roads company reported just can’t, an used spokesperson because. The Route 240 interchange in Fairhaven need be motorists turn it would creating complications to make a U-vans, Road backups and alternative for retains. The North targeted traffic interchange in Mattapoisett is the closest neighborhood that roads substitute off undertaking closing.
The style and design levels is in its in accordance early Officers prepare, place to MassDOT. summer season approach to incorporates out requests for bids from contractors this designs.
The advancements community preliminary down below for noise in the limitations newly I-195: under these, upgrades planted trees, new pedestrian walkways, and a new skate park consequence an overpass.
Some of input town are the officers of designs from feed-back state, who’ve exchanged claimed and Planning with the listened to, neighborhood New Bedford comprehended Director Jennifer Carloni.
“They town from the implies and explained what our point out strategies to us,” she put.
The below dropped independent to community up a wall right after the overpass to city the freeway from the officials, different Conclude mentioned complained it would also section the North successfully from downtown, Carloni spot. Her stated also Coast pushed to make the substitute safer for pedestrians, she maintenance.
Other South in other places bridges are scheduled for Coastline or substitution
Some other landmark bridges repair service in the South ideas have will work or Coastline a little bit in the reduced.
About 6% of bridges in the South complete are structurally deficient, perform demanding than the 8% statewide information.
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The New Bedford-Fairhaven Bridge replacement is still in early design stages. State planners aim to start construction in 2027. The current Route 6 bridge, a span swing bridge, is in fair condition. But at 125 years old, it’s considered functionally obsolete and has needed an increasing number of repairs over the years.
A vertical lift bridge would take a year or so to build, while other designs could take three to five years. Earlier this year, MassDOT officials announced that they preferred a vertical lift design for the new bridge, but New Bedford’s planning and port directors responded with concerns that height limit could impact offshore wind staging in the harbor.
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A replacement project for the Route 6 bridge over the Weweantic River between Marion and Wareham is in final design stages, according to MassDOT. State inspectors consider the current bridge to be structurally deficient. Requests for proposals on that project are scheduled to go out this summer.
Still needing a replacement or repair plan is the South Main Street Bridge over the Assonet River in Freetown. It’s rated as structurally deficient because its deck, or its surface, is in poor condition. Rehabilitation work in 2019 repaired some stones in the bridge’s stone arch, but there’s a crack in the arch that “indicates that the bridge is in the process of splitting in two,” a consultant for the town noted in a study released earlier this year.
The study laid out a few options for repair or replacement. The bridge is owned by Freetown, not the state, so it’s the town’s responsibility to fix it. Freetown’s Highway Department referred requests for comment to the town administrator, who did not immediately respond on Monday.
Other landmark South Coast bridges are in better shape, officials say.
The Padanaram Bridge in Dartmouth is in fair condition, according to MassDOT criteria, and the state transportation agency had no update on plans for it. State officials appropriated $2 million for repairs in fall 2022, though that would only cover design costs. MassDOT has not taken any public action on the project since March 2023, when it held a session to consider the project’s scope.
There are no immediate plans to replace or make any major repairs to the Goulart Memorial Bridge in Fairhaven. The town hired an engineering firm to assess the bridge last year. The study showed that the bridge is safe and in fair-to-good condition, said Fairhaven Highway Superintendent Joshua Crabb.
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