By Grace Allen

Area drivers may feel some relief soon, as the Park Street bridge in Norfolk was scheduled to re-open in one direction by late June. The bridge has been closed to traffic for the past seven months.

At Local Town Pages deadline, MassDOT would not commit to a date, but plans were being finalized to reopen the northbound lane (heading towards Main Street) in a reduced capacity, with restrictions on truck traffic and other heavy vehicles. 

“A barrier will be placed accordingly to limit vehicular traffic, and proper signage will be installed at the bridge notifying motorists of the one-lane road,” said Mass DOT spokesperson John Goggin in an email exchange. “Detour signs will remain in place to guide motorists wishing to travel southbound on Park Street.”

 The bridge was closed abruptly on December 9 after an inspection revealed structural issues, including ongoing corrosion of the exposed steel reinforcement. The bridge was downgraded from Fair to Poor in 2020, and was then subjected to more frequent inspections. Located at the northern end of Park Street, the bridge crosses over the MBTA commuter rail tracks at the Main Street end of Park.

Goggin said MassDOT has performed a full load rating of the bridge structure based on the existing, current conditions. Through analysis, it was determined that the northbound portion of the bridge is able to convey vehicular traffic at a reduced weight posting for two, three, and five-axle vehicles. While trucks and school buses are not excluded from weight-restricted bridges, MassDOT will work with the local bus company and emergency services to evaluate specific buses and emergency vehicles to determine if certain vehicles may use the bridge.

According to Goggin, average daily traffic over the bridge prior to its closing was estimated to be 10,000 vehicles per day, based on observed traffic volumes and MassDOT inspection procedures. Since December 9, detours have been in place and surrounding neighborhoods and roads in Norfolk, Franklin, and Wrentham have been impacted. 

Blair Crane, Norfolk’s Director of Public Works, said that town departments, and the bus company, have adjusted their schedules and tried to adapt to the loss of a key intersection in town. 

“We’ve all moved some resources around as well as changed our schedules, and there haven’t been that many issues, other than inconvenience,” he said. 

More pressing, however, is that the partial reopening of the bridge in one direction may cause some confusion for motorists, added Crane. 

“It is certainly a concern of mine, which I have put forth to the state, is that in my experience people don’t pay a lot of attention to signs,” he said. “Sign pollution is a worry. After a while, people don’t look at them anymore.”

It’s unclear if the bridge will have to be fully closed down again, either before or during the repair (or replacement) process. Spokesperson Goggin confirmed the state agency could conceivably close the bridge again, based on future inspections or new safety concerns. 

And staging of the construction process will be determined during design, making it impossible to predict for now whether the bridge will have to be closed completely for repairs to begin.

As for a timeline when the bridge project would take place, Goggin would only say options were being evaluated to fund its long-term replacement. MassDOT receives federal bridge funds for state-owned and municipally-owned bridges and also contributes state funds to most projects. 

“Projects receiving federal aid are typically financed using an 80% federal and 20% state funding split,” he explained. “The district has added this structure to its priorities for the next iteration of the State Traffic Improvement Program (STIP). This bridge is considered an On-System, non-National Highway System (NHS) bridge. Securing funding for such bridges has been difficult in recent years, as most bridge funds are being utilized to address bridges that are part of the NHS. MassDOT is evaluating options to fund On-System, non-NHS poor condition bridges, and will continue to look for opportunities to address this structure.”

Until funding is secured and design plans are finalized, the future of the Park Street bridge remains uncertain, leaving area drivers with little choice but to stay patient for now.