OVERJOYED about the OVERPASS
Motorists, residents applaud early completion of Route 28 bridge
By John Basilesco
MethuenLife Writer
The reopening of the Route 28 bridge over Route 213 translates into a major relief for motorists who put up with traffic snarls and delays for months while the old bridge was demolished and rebuilt.
Motorists and residents who live or work near the construction site are thrilled that the $10 million state project has been completed 17 months ahead of schedule. It reopened last month.
For Gail and Robert Foster, who live in the midst of the construction site, it means an end to honking horns and backed-up traffic outside their home on Route 28 (Broadway), where they also operate a business called Dube Lock Company.
“It was difficult,” Gail Foster said about the construction. “But the bridge had to be addressed, like it or not. Customers had a hard time getting in and out. (During construction) there was backed-up traffic and people’s horns honking. I have a lot of elderly customers. They would see the orange barrels and be afraid to stop, worried that they might be going the wrong way. “
For some residents, night construction over the summer was really unbearable.
The noise made it hard for Linda and Dennis Yuele to get a good night’s sleep. They live on Nevins Road behind the Hillside Acre Animal Cemetery on Route 28, a short distance from the bridge.
“For me, it was a matter of not being able to get to sleep,” Dennis Yuele said. “It seems like a new shift was starting at 11 pm, which is right when I was going to sleep. The sound of jack-hammers and something that sounded like a pile driver caused a lot of noise. It was an hour to an hour and a half before I finally (fell asleep).”
Like many others on the Massachusetts side of the border, Dennis Yuele uses the Route 28 bridge to get to tax-free Salem, N.H., to go shopping. Others use it to get to Interstate 495 or Interstate 93 via Route 213.
“I think everyone who uses 28 to get to Salem is happy that the new bridge is (open),” Yuele said. “The traffic patterns were changing daily over the past seven to eight weeks. Police did a fantastic job of directing traffic around heavy equipment that was constantly backing out and maneuvering around the construction.”
Police Chief Katherine Lavigne said she is happy about the early completion of the project. For several months, motorists have been using temporary bridges, with one lane in each direction.
“This project was scheduled to continue much into the next year, and we’re fortunate they were able to complete it ahead of schedule,” she said.
Lavigne said police did a good job of rerouting traffic. While this “minimized the negative affect on motorists, it still was an inconvenience for motorists,” she said.
Police will continue monitoring and directing traffic while all of the construction work is wrapped up, including completion of sidewalks, Lavigne said.
The $10 million project involved a complete replacement of the four-lane Route 28 bridge over Route 213. Construction crews demolished the existing bridge and replaced it with a new two-span steel bridge with two lanes in each direction and 5-foot sidewalks.
Successful efforts to accelerate the project’s timetable involved using two temporary bridges for traffic, allowing the work to be completed in a single stage. This reduced the work timetable by a full year with the bridge reopening expected next April. However, the work continued at an even quicker-than-expected pace, resulting in last month’s reopening, a full 17 months earlier than first planned.
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