After nearly two years of being closed to through traffic, the Division Street bridge will be reopened in September using a temporary prefabricated bridge, according to Town Manager Mark Pruhenski.
Great Barrington — After being closed for two years, the Division Street Bridge spanning the Housatonic River will be reopened in September.
According to Town Manager Mark Pruhenski, a prefabricated bridge that the town will use as a temporary replacement is scheduled to be delivered by early August.
“The lifespan of this prefabricated bridge is around 20 years,” Pruhenski said. “The town can use this to reopen the river crossing while we wait for federal or state funding to replace the bridge permanently. At least it will get people to move across Division Street again and open it up. It’s very important to open up that crossing.”
In the meantime, work is continuing to remove parts of the existing bridge.
The deck of the bridge has been removed, and Pruhenski said that the truss of the bridge will be removed over the next two weeks.
“I just want to remind residents that this is an active work zone and they should avoid the area for safety reasons,” Pruhenski said. “We don’t want to create distractions for our workers. When they get this done sooner, they can reopen the bridge.”
The bridge, which was built in 1950, was closed in 2019 after the state Department of Transportation deemed it “structurally deficient” during a 2018 inspection.
While that inspection revealed deteriorated steel stringers, a subsequent routine load-rating inspection of the bridge caused the state to close it.
In October 2020, it was discovered that the previous state inspection of the bridge did not accurately assess its condition, which meant that the town had to pursue the prefabricated bridge option.
Back at the 2019 annual town meeting, voters approved a $4 million bond to fund significant repairs to the bridge.
Instead, Pruhenski said that the approved funds are being used to install the prefabricated bridge, which is set to cost only $1.7 million in construction and engineering.
“I feel confident and comfortable in saying that we will not use the full $4 million that we have budgeted for this project,” Pruhenski said.
He added that he could not give an exact amount of how much of the $4 million allocated would be used for this project.
Back in January, former Department of Public Works Chairman Sean VanDeusen said that MassDOT is designing a permanent replacement bridge that would be built within eight to 10 years.
The permanent replacement bridge, which VanDeusen said would cost around $15 million to $20 million, would be paid for by the state.
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