More than 25,000 vehicles a day travel the Basiliere Bridge.
Residents drive to work, families head off on vacations, Merrimack Valley Transit Authority (MeVa) buses set their routes, and others use it as a place to walk their dogs.
Yet, the bridge is deemed “structurally deficient” with poor foundations, and state repairs keep getting delayed. The Massachusetts Department of Transportation, which is in charge of the $150 million project, expects to award a contract for the project in late spring 2025.
About 5% of the bridges in dire need of work in the state are in the Merrimack Valley — 13 of them in Haverhill alone.
“The Merrimack Valley is home to some of the oldest infrastructure in our country,” said U.S. Rep. Lori Trahan, D-Westford.
State-wide data from MassDOT suggests that almost 680 bridges are “structurally deficient,” meaning at least one of the key elements is in poor or worse shape.
“A ‘structurally deficient’ is not an unsafe bridge,” a MassDOT spokesman said. “It means a bridge needs more frequent maintenance and inspection.”
After the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore last month, state officials scrambled to review the condition of bridges throughout the Commonwealth.
“The data underscores how urgent this crisis of crumbling roads and bridges has become for our communities,” said U.S. Rep. Seth Moulton, D-Salem. “It’s unacceptable that in a world-class state like Massachusetts, our infrastructure is failing us to this degree.”
MassDOT’s highway division bridge inspection management system refreshes data on a biweekly basis. It includes the Department of Transportation and municipally-owned structures that span greater than 20 feet. Bridges under MassDOT receive “extensive hands-on” inspections every two years, according to the division.
In terms of the Basiliere Bridge, MassDOT officials previously said it is technically two bridges with elements from a pre-1925 structure mixed with today’s bridge.
Officials claim the bridge is safe, but its condition is still a concern due to the fact the Merrimack River is eroding the bridge’s piers.
“These bridges are the ones that are eventually considered for replacement or rehabilitation,” the MassDOT spokesman said.
Trahan has secured federal funding to support upgrades to a number of deficient bridges in the region, including $150 million to replace the Basiliere Bridge.
But the Basiliere in Haverhill has plenty of company when it comes to “structurally deficient” bridges in Essex County. There’s a total of 72 with seven in Andover, 13 in Haverhill, nine in Lawrence, two in Methuen and two in North Andover.
Highway Administrator Jonathan Gulliver wrote in a 2022 performance and asset management update that funding from the Federal Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and MassTRAC transportation bond bills are focusing on “performance management.”
“The combined state and federal transportation investment from these authorizations is responsive to a growing recognition of system need,” Gulliver wrote. “Massachusetts bridge needs have been well documented in previous reports to the legislature.”
The average age of bridges throughout the state is “significantly older than the national inventory,” according to the report. The asset management packet notes that adding “unforgiving winters and traffic from an active and growing state,” to the structural age, there has been a “considerable repair backlog.”
“Massachusetts … has the 14th largest percentage of poor bridges in the U.S., and the fourth largest share of poor bridges with respect to the National Highway System,” according to the report.
In 2021, the Transportation Bond Bill authorized $1.25 billion for the next generation bridge program. Gulliver suggested the state has “programmed 150 bridge projects” for 2023 through 2027.
Trahan noted she has also secured $2 million for the Mario Lucchesi Memorial Bridge in Lawrence and is working with local and state officials to win additional funding for key bridge improvements and replacements.
“We need to see faster and smarter investment moving forward,” Moulton said, “including reforming certain permitting processes to expedite repairs.”
Trahan said Merrimack Valley communities have been “left to fend for themselves for too long.”
“That’s why passing the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to end Washington’s decades-long failure to invest in local infrastructure projects like replacing the Basiliere Bridge was so important,” Trahan said. “This law is delivering well over $5 billion to ensure that every Massachusetts parent knows the roads and bridges they depend on to get their kids to school and themselves to work are safe.”
Follow Monica on Twitter at @MonicaSager3
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