Beverly Officials Push Changes To Hall-Whitaker Bridge Fix

BEVERLY, MA — Beverly Mayor Mike Cahill told a crowd of Ryal Side residents that the city is pushing the state Department of Transportation to alter its 14-year timeline for the replacement of the closed Hall-Whitaker Bridge and deficient Kernwood Bridge to include a "temporary" Hall-Whitaker replacement that could remain open until a permanent bridge is built.

In a public meeting last month, MassDOT officials laid out a plan that startled both city officials and many residents in its decade-and-a-half duration where the temporary replacement for the Hall-Whitaker, which has been closed to vehicle traffic since it was deemed unsafe in June, would be targeted for completion in 2026, the Kernwood Bridge would then be worked on through 2031, and then the permanent Hall-Whitaker would be in place by 2035.

Under that plan, which put the temporary bridge and permanent Hall-Whitaker bridge on the same footprint, the temporary Hall-Whitaker would have to be demolished — and thus access across it eliminated for a second time — to build the permanent bridge.

"We made it clear to the MassDOT folks that their proposal to open a temporary bridge and eventually tear it down to build a permanent bridge at Hall-Whitaker — that isn't going to fly with anybody here," Cahill said. "The goal is to get a temporary bridge that can stay open from the day it opens until the day a permanent bridge opens before it would be torn down."

That would, however, require the temporary bridge to go around the currently closed bridge — which could require additional time-consuming permitting and potential "temporary" right-of-way property easements that could last up to a decade.

Cahill said he did not know for sure whether the plans for the temporary, offset bridge — or the permanent replacement — would be a drawbridge.

Several residents asked why a temporary bridge makes sense at all if even that is going to take four years to complete.

"It's MassDOT that's been pushing the temporary bridge," Cahill said. "Their mindset and fear is that if we take the extra time to go through the design and permitting on a permanent Hall-Whitaker replacement bridge, that's going to be a longer lead time, and they're afraid the Kernwood is going to fall down (in the meantime).

"That's my take. We've been pushing to have that conversation. But I don't know if that's possible."

Beyond updates on the design and extensive timeline to repair and replace both bridges, residents shared their concerns about traffic congestion and speeding in the neighborhoods since the state shut down the Hall-Whitaker in June.

Residents requested additional police traffic patrols as well as signage alerting those passing through the neighborhood to slow down.

"A lot of police resources have been focused on that area," Cahill said. "I am hearing you need more."

Beverly Commissioner of Public Services & Engineering Michael Collins said state law does not allow the city to reduce the speed limits on the surrounding side streets even while they are subject to a detour and bridge construction nearby.

Cahill said he will schedule an additional public meeting in the coming weeks to discuss a MassDOT traffic study the city received this week, along with data collected from electric speed monitors placed in the area this summer.

Cahill said there are plans to reinforce part of the Kernwood Bridge this winter — which will also require a closure — to help it get through until the Hall-Whitaker temporary bridge can be built.

He said the city did ask why the Hall-Whitaker could not simply be reinforced while a replacement is planned and that he received a six-page letter written from the engineers to MassDOT explaining why it cannot.

"It's frustrating," he said. "We've all asked the same questions. They have made the argument that structurally they can't do it."

A state master plan had scheduled the Kernwood Bridge to be replaced starting in 2027, but that timeline assumed the Hall-Whitaker Bridge would remain functional beyond that. In June, the Hall-Whitaker was deemed beyond structurally deficient to "unsafe" — and it was soon closed to all but pedestrian and bicycle traffic.

"It's a bad situation," Collins said. "We had a bridge that should have been replaced decades ago but it wasn't.

"So here we are. We're going to deal with it the best we can."

(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.)