Brown Street/Whipple Road Bridge Opens For Traffic
State and local dignitaries on hand for official ribbon cutting ceremony.
Photos
Amid much pomp and ceremony, the Brown Street/Whipple Road Bridge officially re-opened on Friday.
The bridge had been closed since Spring 2010, when the bridge was heavily damaged by flood waters.
The bridge is technically owned by Wilmington and Billerica but it has a major impact on Tewksbury residents in the Whipple road area. After much negotiation and planning by officials from the three towns and the Massachusetts Department of Transportation, work on repairs to the bridge began in June.
"Tewksbury thanks the DOT for completing repairs that restore a vital public safety link among three communities," said Doug Sears, vice chairman of Board of Selectmen.
Work on the bridge had originally been targeted for completion by Oct. 31 but was completed a full five weeks early.
“It was great joining with the towns and playing a key role in bringing this project to completion. I want to thank (Transportation) Secretary Davey, the people at the Massachusetts Department of Transportation, especially John Romano, for all of their help making this a reality,” said state Rep. Jim Miceli, D-Wilmington, who was the first driver to cross over the bridge at the conclusion of the ceremony. “This bridge is vital to the transportation needs of Tewksbury, Wilmington and Billerica, and to have it completed more than a month ahead of schedule is an extra bonus.”
While the cost of planning and design and some of the cost of construction was shared by the three towns, the state contributed $170,000 to the final construction costs.
“Rebuilding transportation infrastructure across the Commonwealth means addressing projects both large and small in scope but always of critical importance to their local communities,” said State Highway Administrator Frank DePaola. “I am pleased to be here today to see the results of our collaboration with local and state leaders in reopening this bridge.”
With the bridge being closed, commuters had to find alternative routes of travel, contributing to increased traffic on Shawsheen Street, Route 38 and other roads. However, according to Tewksbury Town Manager Richard Montuori, reopening the bridge was especially critical to a select group of commuters.
"It was a public safety issue," said Montuori. "Fire trucks, ambulances -- the response times were impacted."
Toby Sedgwick
6:10 pm on Saturday, September 22, 2012
I happily used the bridge today!
mike t
9:04 pm on Saturday, September 22, 2012
You wouldn't be happy if you lived on Whipple or Brown and had to deal with the cars,bikers and over loaded trucks who break the speed limit flying down this road. Now there is an increase in traffic after fixing this stupid bridge. No cops around to do anything about it. This should have never been fixed. They are more concerned about the stupid bridge rather than public safety. How about some sidewalks Tewksbury, Wilmington and Billerica? How about lowering the speed and truck weight limit on this road and actually enforcing it? This bridge could be paid for in a week if you put a cop on the road to enforce the speed limit. SIDEWALKS AND SPEEDERS ARE A PUBLIC SAFTEY ISSUE NOT YOUR STUPID BRIDGE!
Linda c
9:28 pm on Saturday, September 22, 2012
I live in the area and thank god the bridge opened!!!
Melissa Gleaton
11:28 pm on Saturday, September 22, 2012
Mike T. - The opening of this bridge IS about pubic safety. It opens up a whole section of the community for emergency response. Like most people, when something is broken that the people of the town use, I want it fixed! Especially when it impedes the quick response of police & fire.
Rick M
7:52 am on Sunday, September 23, 2012
Melissa, the biggest impact to response times was closing the south street fire station. The money spent by Tewksbury on a bridge that opens Wilmington commuters from Lowell should have been spent on funding that station! Anyone who claims the bridge was the issue for emergency vehicles that didn't fund that station is disingenuous!
TomH
9:21 am on Sunday, September 23, 2012
Mike T - speeding is an issue all over town, not just on Brown/Whipple. Did you really think that this bridge would remain closed permanently?
I hope this reopening alleviates some of the gridlock on Shawsheen and Main Streets
DonnaMarie Robitaille(Harrington)
9:50 am on Sunday, September 23, 2012
First of all, the delays of response time for EMERGENCY 911 WAS NOT due to the closing at Brown St.BRIDGE> The wrongfully continued CLOSING OF SOUTH STREET FIRE STATION is the true impact. Appreciate combined efforts and the successful completion of this bridge,however I believe my comment is true to form.
Mary
10:05 am on Sunday, September 23, 2012
I really don't understand why the residents that live near where the bridge was repaired think that speeding only goes on that street. Speeding goes on all over Tewksbury. The bridge and street were there well before the building of most of the houses. You knew about the road before purchasing your property.
Rick M
11:04 am on Sunday, September 23, 2012
Mary, do you think that we in this neighborhood should just up and leave rather than address the problem? Pretty sure I bought in a residential neighborhood where the posted speed limit is 25mph....thought that it was a good community where traffic would be enforced and my local fd would stay open. Should I just bury my head or exercise my first amendment rights and voice my opinion in public? People in south Tewksbury have been given the short end of the stick for too long.....
Rick M
11:11 am on Sunday, September 23, 2012
Tom h, I'm sure the businesses on the south tewkbury section of rt 38 are thrilled that traffic will be eased on that commercially zoned state highway. Maybe we should have a plan for our town like Wilmington has, extra lanes, timed traffic lights, limited entry points. Make it easier to commute and commerce instead of send traffic into residential. If we police properly, I have no issue with traffic on my street....just not happy about cars going twice the limit with kids on the street.
Rachel Henba
12:03 pm on Sunday, September 23, 2012
Speeders are EVERYWHERE. I'm honestly tired of seeing those complaints. There are plenty of other roads in town that constantly have speeders traveling them. Do you really expect the road to end there because of that?
This is Tewksbury, not Pleasantville.
Rick M
4:06 pm on Sunday, September 23, 2012
Rachael, with the right attitude this could be pleasantville. I moved here from Malden because it was a lost cause and I'm not about to let tewkbury crumble without speaking up. I'm glad the day my dog got killed on brown street after knocking out the screen door it wasn't a kid chasing a ball. People travel too fast on this street using it as a commuter road from Lowell to Wilmington. A sidewalk would make it safer, cops that gave out tickets would make it a fundraiser! Lowell money funding our town....not a bad idea I think! I don't speed when I drive through Andover or Reading, they out tickets like candy.
al
6:42 pm on Friday, April 5, 2013
Rick,
I used to drive through that road for at least 2 years and I saw that you could speed up really easy. I didn't know the bridge was open until today, but I read your comments and I will start using this road again going to Bedford, but I will stay under the speed limit.
Glad you brought this up, If I am the only one, at least you got one with you.