Community Corner

Boston Neck Bridge to Have Grand Reopening Friday

Work on the landmark Suffield bridge was completely well under budget.

Suffield's Boston Neck Bridge, which was severely damaged and deemed unsafe after a portion of the structure fell out in April 2012, will reopen on Friday, Aug. 2.

The town plans a grand opening ceremony at 10 a.m., according to a news release from the First Selectman's office, and the public is invited to celebrate the completion of repairs that cost less than expected, and were completed on an efficient time schedule.

According to First Selectman Ed McAnaney, in the spring of 2012 the Suffield Board of Selectman voted in favor of the option of repairing the one-lane bridge, rather than replacing it with a new two-lane structure.

"If we did the bridge repair ourselves it would cost 'x.' If it went through the state's Small Bridge Program it would still cost 'x' to Suffield, but the scope of their job is so enormous that it would take five years to complete," McAnaney said. The cost to Suffield was estimated to be $927,000.

The Small Bridge Program doesn't have a "hurry up" provision, and the town did not want the Boston Neck Bridge to potentially remain closed for five years, he said.

The repaired bridge remains only one-lane wide,, but has been upgraded so that there are no weight restrictions. It can handle cars as well as tractor trailers, town officials said.

The bridge repair project came in $150,000 under budget, and that's including the extra work replacing the adjacent pedestrian bridge and doing some drainage improvement at the site.

McAnaney said that the public is invited to attend the grand re-opening of the Boston Neck Bridge. Several antique cars will make the crossing, and there will also be a ribbon-cutting.


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