FLORENCE, MASS.-I just read with shock and awe, or just plain enthusiasm, a couple of essays/articles about the newly opened Route 119 bridge over the Connecticut River and discussions about the nascent remake of the older bridges into a bike and pedestrian pathway.
I've been waiting for this discussion for over 20 years now.
Folks, we are now going to zoom up in altitude so lets buckle your seatbelts. Did you know that there are five former highway or railroad bridges in a 13-mile stretch of the Connecticut River that have been taken out of service and could be remade for bicyclists, pedestrians, and other users?
Four of the five bridges are over the river at Brattleboro.
The former railroad bridge on the south side of town is the first one. Amazingly, 20 years ago, the state of New Hampshire stockpiled all-new deck timbers to redo that old railroad bridge as a bike-ped bridge. However the state of Vermont took so long to clear the right of way under the new Route 119 bridge that New Hampshire ended up using those timbers on other projects over the years.
The middle two are the old Route 119 bridges currently being discussed in town and this newspaper. And the northernmost one is the crossing of the river at Route 9 to Chesterfield, New Hampshire.
The southernmost of the five is the Schell Memorial Bridge in Northfield, Massachusetts, and the only one to be linked to the same community on both sides of the river. This highway bridge was built in the early years of the 20th century by a wealthy benefactor from New York City who then donated it to the town.
It was taken out of service in 1985 and planned to be demolished, but that never happened. In 2003, It appeared on the Massachusetts' Most Endangered Historic Resources list. In 2004, Friends of Schell Bridge was formed and a strategic plan was commissioned. The current plan involves replacing the bridge, not renovating it. But that is stalled at the moment.
What needs to happen is for Massachusetts, Vermont, and New Hampshire to come together to develop the reuse of these bridges as one project that will be impactful and make a renaissance in the village centers and downtowns in all communities along the way.
A report should look at connecting all five bridges by low-volume roads or former railroad corridor, making them an interconnected, linear park with smart, 21st-century marketing, branding, and management. This study should answer this elephant-in-the-room question: "What would this special linear park be worth if created?"
Individual towns working on their own to restore each bridge will find the process an annoyance. An albatross. But doing them all as a single interconnected project, with featured signage along the way to call out all the history and the flora and fauna along the beautiful Connecticut River, will be a winner.
However, this idea would be introducing a newfangled - or, at least, rarely-seen - concept: a project where communities and states in New England work together on a cross-state project.
That will not be easy, but if it can be pulled off, it will be impactful.
Craig Della Penna
Florence, Mass.
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