2027 Targeted For Beverly Temporary Hall-Whitaker Replacement Bridge: MassDOT

BEVERLY, MA — The moment that much of the crowd gathered at Beverly High School was waiting for Tuesday night was met with a chorus of laughter.

Spurring the incredulous response was Massachusetts Department of Transportation officials' saying that the current target for having a temporary replacement of the Hall-Whitaker Bridge — which was ordered closed to auto traffic one year ago — is the middle of 2027.

"We know that four years is too long," Beverly Mayor Mike Cahill said. "The question is: Can we collapse (that timeline) and if we can how much can we collapse it?

"None of us wants to wait four years."

The replacement bridge would run parallel to the existing bridge, which would largely remain open for pedestrians and bicycle traffic, and will require some temporary right-of-way property taking via eminent domain. Demolition of the current Hall-Whitaker Bridge and construction on the new permanent drawbridge would then begin upon the opening of the temporary fixed bridge in 2027.

At the same time, work will be done to stabilize the deficient Kernwood Bridge pending the completion of the temporary Hall-Whitaker Bridge before that bridge will be rebuilt as well.

MassDOT representatives said the timeline for both permanent bridges to be completed is 2032 — about three years sooner than the original 13-year timeline proposed in the first public meeting following the Hall-Whitaker closure one year ago.

"The timelines you are seeing here today are based on the currently mandated regulatory timeframes," MassDOT District 4 Director Paul Stedman said. "But make no mistake that MassDOT, through the leadership of the mayor and the delegation, is looking at ways that we can pull those timelines back.

"So we're not just resting on that we're going to be done in 2032, or that we're even going to be advertising the temporary bridge (for bid) in 2025. We want to do better. We definitely want to do better.

"We hear you and we share in your frustration."

MassDOT officials said there are no plans to take any homes as part of the right-of-way for the temporary bridge.

Some of the regulatory hurdles are environmental and have to do with restrictions on the time of year when certain river floor construction that disrupts the silt can be done because of protected spawning fish.

Cahill said he is working with the Gov. Maura Healey-Lt. Gov. Kim Driscoll administration and the state delegation in an attempt to see which, if any, permitting can be sped up or bypassed to condense the project.

"We're trying to really speed up this timeline," State Sen. Joan Lovely (D-Salem) said. "It just seems so extraordinary. How can we get there faster? We know that it's been a year and it's been very difficult for the neighborhood.

"No one is happy that we are at this point."

Beverly Commissioner of Public Services and Engineering Michael Collins said traffic mitigation equipment to improve four intersections in the area of the bridge was ordered using state money earmarked in the budget but has been delayed because of supply-chain difficulties.

He said many of those items have recently arrived and improvement should be seen in the intersection bottlenecks by this summer.

(Scott Souza is a Patch field editor covering Beverly, Danvers, Marblehead, Peabody, Salem and Swampscott. He can be reached at Scott.Souza@Patch.com. Twitter: @Scott_Souza.)