Port council OKs Middle Street bridge project

By Lisa Rinaldi

» Correspondent

WEST NEWBURY — Since 2018, Newburyport and West Newbury officials have engaged in a protracted process of research, discussion and debate regarding who will pay for the Middle Street bridge repair project.

On Monday night, the Newburyport City Council voted unanimously to approve an intermunicipal agreement which stipulates that each community will share equally in the project’s funding costs.

The bridge, an important link between West Newbury and Newburyport, was closed in August 2019 after a failure in the spandrel wall. It sits on the border between the two communities, and each shares a legal obligation to maintain and repair the structure.

“The fact that this was a unanimous vote in spite of reservations showed the spirit of collaboration. Council members understand the big picture and the context. This vote speaks of the values and culture of the Council. They know this is an obligation. The vote showed real leadership,” West Newbury Town Manager Angus Jennings, who attended Monday’s meeting, said the next day.

Newburyport received two Massachusetts Department of Transportation small bridge program grants in 2018 totaling $293,952, according to the draft agreement. Earlier this year, Newburyport was awarded a third small bridge grant of $750,000. West Newbury was awarded a $1 million MassWorks grant in late 2023 and a $750,000 small bridge grant in early 2024.

A construction cost estimate for the necessary bridge work comes in at about $3,605,000, with an added 25% construction contingency fee of $901,250.

A resident engineer fee of $200,000 and a construction engineering services charge of $100,000 brings the total remaining project costs to roughly $4,806,250.

These numbers do not include previous design/ permitting costs of approximately $500,000 (the project has been fully permitted since May 2023). The amount of remaining net local costs totals $2,012,298.

Jim McCauley, Ward 5 Councilor Jim McCauley, who leads its Public Works and Safety subcommittee, reported that if remaining costs are assumed in a 50-50 split, Newburyport’s share amounts to $1,006,149.

Reached by phone on Tuesday, McCauley said the city had an obligation to contribute to the cost of maintaining shared infrastructure. He added that voting against the inter-municipal agreement would have resulted in further complications down the road.

For example, the bridge grants awarded to Newburyport and already received would be forfeited; public safety would be at further risk if nothing is done; and the city’s goal of being a “good neighbor” to West Newbury would be compromised, McCauley said.

Prior to voting on the agreement, councilors pushed to ensure that there would be language in the agreement capping Newburyport’s contribution at $1,006,149. The agreement now specifies that costs exceeding that amount would go back to the council for review. The committee also discussed the option of tying the bridge project to the Indian Hill water pipeline initiative. The complexities of both projects, however, along with the fact that the pipeline is at a much earlier stage of completion, make the proposal infeasible.

Ward 6 Councilor Byron Lane raised concerns about large trucks passing on the bridge and creating noise and disruption in the surrounding area.

According to both Jennings and McCauley, MassDOT would need to approve a heavy commercial vehicle exclusion in order for the two communities to prohibit trucks from driving on the new bridge.

“West Newbury would be amenable to partnering with the city to pursue the HCVE,” Jennings said, adding there is no guarantee that MassDOT would approve it.

A number of council members pointed out that they have received little feedback from constituents in favor of the bridge project, and they expressed reservations over the anticipated cost to the city.

“No one in our area wants this. I see this as a money pit,” Lane said.

Other council members, while concurring with concerns over cost, recognized the project’s inevitability and their responsibility to work collaboratively with West Newbury.

“Saying no will only cost us more down the road,” Ward 3 Councilor Heath Granas said.

McCauley, on Tuesday, said a debate on the cost is healthy.

“Nobody likes to spend a million dollars, but there were compelling reasons to approve the IMA. Talking through the ‘what if’ scenarios helped people see what had to be done.” McCauley said.

He went on to described the council as “gun shy about getting into a project and having it escalate” after Market Landing Park and new fire station projects ultimately came in at much higher cost than anticipated.

With the agreement in hand, Jennings said that an invitation for contractors to submit bids will go out in August, with an anticipated 45-60 day response period. West Newbury and Newburyport will work together on the procurement process, and hope to award the contract for the bridge project in October or November, with construction to begin in spring 2025.

“West Newbury is greatly appreciative of the action Newburyport took in approving the IMA, and of the spirit with which they took it,” Jennings said on Tuesday. “You can’t put a price on being a good neighbor.”

The heavily damaged Plummer Spring Road/Middle Street bridge between Newburyport and West Newbury.

KEITH SULLIVAN/ Staff file photo