Town officials in Northfield, Mass., are continuing to push for funding to replace the Schell Bridge over the Connecticut River. In early September, they voted to send a letter to U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) Secretary Pete Buttigieg seeking around $25 million for the project.
The Recorder, a daily news source in nearby Greenfield, reported that Northfield's effort to secure federal funding follows unsuccessful advocacy in 2022 and earlier this year to get a grant through the 2022 Rural Surface Transportation Grant Program.
Should the town be successful this time, the new funding — which would come as part of the USDOT's Reconnecting Communities and Neighborhoods Grant Program — would supplement another $25 million that the Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT) has already pledged toward the project.
"We were advised by the feds that we just have to keep at it," Northfield Administrator Andrea Llamas told the Recorder, emphasizing the importance of consistent advocacy.
MassDOT previously indicated that it may supplement its initial $25 million allocation with an additional $12.5 million. Northfield Selectboard Chair Alex Meisner said, however, that this allocation has not been finalized, and that any such additional funding may vary depending on how much money the USDOT awards.
Closed for 38 Years, Bridge in Dire Need of Replacement
The proposed project consists of the complete replacement of Schell Bridge, which carries East Northfield Road over the Connecticut River and has been closed since 1985 due to deterioration that rendered it unsafe to use.
Construction on the 350-ft. long steel Pennsylvania truss bridge began in 1901 and opened to the public two years later. The structure is named after Francis R. Schell, a New York merchant who gave $42,000 for its design and construction.
It links two sections of Northfield, as the town is the only one in the state that is divided by the Connecticut River.
Authorities closed and barricaded the bridge, said Mallory Sullivan, the town's grant development director, after engineering studies in the 1970s and early ‘80s determined it was structurally unsound.
In its letter to Buttigieg, a copy of which was obtained by the Recorder, the town's Selectboard noted that replacement of the bridge "has long been a priority." A new bridge, which could take up to three years to build, would be exclusive to pedestrians and bicycles.
"The board strongly feels that this bridge project will enhance the quality of life, safety, and connection for the town and region," the letter read.
It also lists a variety of "transformative benefits" that would be enabled by the Schell Bridge's reconstruction, including improved access between East and West Northfield, elimination of the threat of impending collapse, increased efficiency for first responders in the event of emergencies that require getting to the other side of the river, and better means of accessing recreation and tourism destinations which, in turn, would bolster the local economy.
Fed Program the Perfect Avenue for Funding New Bridge
The Northfield board argues in its letter to Buttigieg that these benefits align flawlessly with the purpose of the federal grant program, the Recorder noted.
The USDOT's website describes the Reconnecting Communities and Neighborhoods Grant Program as "a first-of-its-kind initiative to reconnect communities that are cut off from opportunity and burdened by past transportation infrastructure decisions."
The program's nationwide funding, which will total $1 billion over five years, "supports planning grants and capital construction grants, as well as technical assistance, to restore community connectivity through the removal, retrofit, mitigation, or replacement of eligible transportation infrastructure facilities."
Last February, Buttigieg announced $185 million in grant awards for 45 projects through this initiative.
Additionally, the Northfield Selectboard's letter stresses that the Schell Bridge "remains a pivotal icon of Northfield as we celebrate the town's 350th anniversary in 2023."
Board member Barbara "Bee" Jacque noted at the body's Sept. 5 meeting that the theme of this year's anniversary celebration is "reconnection."
"What better metaphor than to use a bridge that actually reconnects Northfield?" Meisner said.
The USDOT is due to announce the next set of grant recipients in the spring of 2024, according to its website.
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