Blackstone bridge repairs to begin in September

BLACKSTONE – With state Department of Transportation approval now in hand, a project to repair the ailing Lincoln Street Bridge in Blackstone is likely to start in September and will take about a month to complete. The project still needs to be bid out, but is on schedule, according to town officials.

“Everybody’s on standby,” said Selectmen Chairman Daniel Keefe. “This thing is ready to rock and there’s a lot that’s going to happen in a very short period of time.”

The historic bridge, located between the Blackstone-Millville Regional High School and the John F. Kennedy Elementary/Augustine F. Maloney School complex, spans the Fox Brook. It was closed earlier in the spring so highway workers could repair and fill a large hole on one side of the bridge, which has been slowly deteriorating for the past 25 years. The bridge was later reopened and has been restricted to one lane in each direction.

Keefe said the project is likely to start after school opens, but that there should be minimal interference before the project wraps up in

about a month.

Town voters approved a town meeting appropriation of $400,000 for the project, which will be offset by more than $200,000 from the state in the form of “Chapter 90” funding for local road and bridge repairs and capital

funding from the capital infrastructure bill signed into into law by Gov. Charlie Baker.

The town had been trying to address the bridge since the 1990s. The project was on the Department of Transportation’s list of projects for funding, but kept being put off until state Sen. Ryan Fattman was able to secure funding this spring.

The project will include replacing the bridge for a total project length of 500 feet and adding sidewalks.

The bridge is one of three in town that local officials are hoping to either repair or replace.

At the annual town meet- ing during spring, voters appropriated $217,000 for a study and design work for the St. Paul Street bridge, which is in need of repairs. The study and design is needed in case there is state funding available for the project down the road.

Voters also approved $198,999 to reconstruct the historic stone arch bridge on Elm Street. If approved, the money would be reimbursed by the state’s Municipal Small Bridge Program.

Blackstone was one of 12 cities and towns selected as part of the second round of funding for the state program which helps towns replace or preserve bridges.