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Date: 11/7/2022
SOUTHAMPTON – Town officials and state legislators gathered on Nov. 3 to celebrate the monumental grand opening of the new East Street Bridge, a project that has been in the works for well over a decade.
The replacement of the 90-year-old bridge cost $2.6 million in total with $1 million coming from a MassWorks grant, which is a statewide program that assists with the long-term sustainability of municipalities across Massachusetts. The other $1.6 million came from a debt exclusion that was approved during the Annual Town Meeting in 2019.
“This is honestly the biggest project I’ve been a part of in my 12 years working for the Southampton Highway Department,” said Randall Kemp, the town’s highway superintendent.
The bridge, which crosses the Manhan River and connects with College Highway on Route 10 in Southampton to the border of Holyoke, was closed for the past 10 months for construction and replacement.
Engineers had hoped to open it over the summer, but some delays, including some steel shortages earlier this year, pushed the reopening date to this fall.
“I can finally scratch this project off my list after five years,” said Town Administrator Ed Gibson, during the opening ceremony. “I want to recognize MassWorks for the $1 million, which help make this happen.”
In November 2021, the bridge had to be closed to remove gas, electric, phone and water lines from the bridge before its demolition. Construction in the winter included excavation and backfill of abutments, installation of piling, pouring of new abutments and wing walls and stabilization of bridge slopes.
The work afterward included backfill, riprap and other site work, sidewalk work, safety curbs and approach slabs. It will also include the installation of the bridge and approach guardrails, endposts, granite curb and storm water drainage, spraying and applying the bridge deck membrane, asphalt pavement work on the bridge deck and approaches, pavement markings and erosion control work.
State Sen. John Velis called this process “government at its best,” and noted how collaboration at the local and state level is key for projects like this one.
State Rep. Lindsay Sabadosa, meanwhile, called this grand opening “exciting.”
“When you have a Select Board like the one in Southampton that reaches out to you, and you figure out which pots of money to pull from…you see this accomplished,” she said. “I get so excited when I go to people to tell them their state government is working with their local government,” she said.
The East Street Bridge replacement is part of a larger $4 million project to improve all of East Street. According to Kemp, this next phase will most likely take several years.
In the meantime, Gibson said residents will enjoy a smoother ride across the bridge compared to the older one. Additionally, the new bridge is wider and features a combined bike/pedestrian sidewalk on which it will lead to the rest of the East Street upgrades.