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Governor Deval Patrick joined Mayor Richard Sullivan, State Senator Michael Knapik (R-Westfield), State Representative Donald Humason (R-Westfield) and Massachusetts Highways Commissioner Luisa Paiewonsky at the groundbreaking ceremonies for the new bridge on Friday. "Most of us are here today, Sullivan said to the assembled crowd, "because we thought this day would never come." Sullivan said the bridge project has been a priority of his during his 14 years in office. The construction will start May 24 on the $60 million project and Sullivan said the plan is to renovate the existing bridge into serving as the southbound lane, while the new span will be the northbound lane. The railroad over-pass will be raised and the intersections leading to the bridge will be re-engineered. Sullivan asked people for their patience during the next three years of construction. About 36,000 cars use the existing bridge every day. Paiewonsky said the state would hold the contractors to their schedules and bring the project in on time. She said that she has never had a conversation with Knapik without hearing about the bridge. Knapik noted in his remarks that former State Senator George Hammond had called for a new bridge to be built 36 years ago. Knapik said that an informal agreement among state authorities had been put in place in 1987 for a new bridge, but the fiscal crisis of the late 1980s and early '90s stopped the plans. He said those plans started in earnest again in 1992, but the rising costs of the Big Dig delayed the project once more. Knapik said the bridge is more than a structure providing access to the city, it will be an economic engine. There was quite a bit of levity at the groundbreaking with Knapik kidding Sullivan by reading old news stories about the bridge and Humason stating he had filed a bill in the House to name the bridge after Knapik. A laughing Knapik shook his head. Patrick noted the good humor and the patience of the citizens of Westfield in waiting for the new bridge, but he said the state "needs to be more nimble." "For a long time Massachusetts has been starving its infrastructure," Patrick said. He noted that at UMass Amherst there is $23 million in deferred maintenance and a total of $15 to $16 billion in deferred maintenance statewide. "We have to start again making public investment in our infrastructure," he said. |
