Middle Street/Artichoke Reservoir Bridge
Update of December 4, 2023
We are grateful for the outpouring of community support. Thanks to thorough applications and letters of support from close to 40 residents, West Newbury was awarded the MassWorks grant for $1,000,000 and $500,000 Small Bridge Grant from MassDOT! Even with this tremendous state support- totaling $1.5 million in recent grant funds and roughly $550,000 in state grant funds awarded to West Newbury and Newburyport (expended to get the project fully engineered and permitted) plus $250,000 in state grant funds awarded to Newburyport, plus the Town Meeting allocation of $600,000, there is still a sizable shortfall in available construction funding. Town officials are working hard to fill this gap so the Middle Street Bridge can be put out to bid and finally rebuilt.
Update of June 14, 2023
We submitted a MassWorks grant application prior to the June 2nd deadline. We expect to hear back from the Commonwealth, regarding whether we receive the grant or not, in the October/November timeframe. The complete grant application, including 34 letters of support, is posted at the bottom of this page.
We are working to prepare another grant application for submittal during the current MassDOT Small Bridge Grant round. That grant application, for up to $500,000, is due by June 30th. We are asking all town residents to help increase our chances of being awarded the grant by submitting a letter of support for this project. Please submit all letters of support to townmanager@wnewbury.org by noon on Tuesday, June 27, 2023.
Update of May 25, 2023
We are pleased to announce that the Middle Street Bridge is fully permitted after a lengthy process. Due to the work taking place within sensitive environmental areas, including a public drinking water source, the project required permitting from MassDEP, MassDOT, Massachusetts Historical Commission, the Massachusetts Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs (under MA Environmental Policy Act, or MEPA), the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Services, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and both West Newbury and Newburyport Conservation Commissions.
The initial goal was for the bridge to be fully constructed by June 30, 2023, but the length of the required permitting processes - including delays related to COVID-19 - made this goal impossible. Although the bridge is now fully permitted, we are now faced with the MassWorks Grant set to expire June 30, 2023. While the Town has submitted a grant extension request to the Commonwealth, it is uncertain whether the extension will be awarded.
Due to this uncertainty, the Town is working to prepare a new MassWorks Grant application, for the FY24 grant round, to be filed by June 2, 2023. We are asking all town residents to help increase our chances of being awarded the grant by submitting a letter of support for this project. Please submit all letters of support to townmanager@wnewbury.org by 11am on Friday, June 2, 2023
In addition, West Newbury continues to be in regular communication with the City of Newburyport, through the Mayor's office and the Dept. of Public Services, regarding continuing efforts to secure project financing. Mayor Reardon's proposed FY24 Capital Program, which includes the Middle Street Bridge (a/k/a Plummer Springs Bridge) will be taken up by the City Council during its budget workshop to review the proposed FY24 DPS budget and capital articles. That budget workshop is scheduled to take place on Thursday, June 8th at 6pm.
Even if the City Council were to provide the $700,000 of funding shown in the City's Capital Program, and even if West Newbury is successful in securing an extension of the current MassWorks grant (which still has over $700,000 remaining/unspent), due to significant cost escalation in the past couple of years, the project still faces a funding shortfall in excess of $1.6M. The Town makes continuing efforts to identify and pursue additional State or Federal grant funding sources to help fill this funding gap.
July 10, 2020
West Newbury and Newburyport Working Toward Memorandum of Agreement regarding Middle Street Bridge
Following more than a year of review and discussion, within the Town and with our counterparts in Newburyport, the Board of Selectmen voted on June 8, 2020 to endorse a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) with the City of Newburyport regarding the Middle Street Bridge.
The MOA has been provided to the Newburyport City Council by the Mayor's office, and following its initial consideration on July 8, 2020 (a meeting also attended by all three Selectmen, the West Newbury Town Manager, and the West Newbury DPW Director) the Council's Neighborhood and City Services Committee will take up the proposed MOA at a joint meeting with the Board of Selectmen on Monday, July 13, 2020 at 6:30 PM.
The posted agenda, including instructions for remote participation, are posted to the Town website events calendar here.
January 8, 2020
West Newbury Receives $1 Million MassWorks Infrastructure Grant
Earlier today, during an event at the Hopedale Housing Authority, Massachusetts Executive Office of Housing & Economic Development (EOHED) Secretary Mike Kennealy announced the award of a $1 million MassWorks grant to the Town of West Newbury to support the reconstruction of the Middle Street/Plummer Spring Road Bridge. The award was one of three grants announced today to support infrastructure projects in Hopedale, Gosnold and West Newbury. Local representation at today’s event included State Representative Lenny Mirra, Selectman Rick Parker and Town Manager Angus Jennings.
In August of this past year, the Town of West Newbury submitted a grant application to the highly competitive MassWorks Infrastructure Program to support reconstruction of the bridge, which was closed to vehicular traffic the previous summer following a failure in the spandrel wall. The grant was accompanied by nearly two dozen letters of support from local residents and officials including Mayor Donna Holaday of Newburyport. The Executive Office of Housing and Economic Development (EOHED) received 92 applications requesting over $223 million. The award to West Newbury was one of a total of 36 successful applications in the 2019 grant round, and the $1 million award was for the maximum amount available for a single project.
“The West Newbury Board of Selectmen and its residents are deeply thankful for the Commonwealth’s $1 million MassWorks grant for the Plummer Spring Road/Middle Street Bridge. The award is absolutely critical to the communities’ ability to bring this important project to timely completion,” said Town Manager Angus Jennings. “The bridge is an important connection between West Newbury and Newburyport, which has been unavailable for nearly 18 months due to a structural failure and poses a substantial cost to both communities.”
West Newbury’s Board of Selectmen Chairman David Archibald added, “Working together paid off. The Town has secured major state MassWorks funding for the iconic bridge over the Artichoke between Newburyport and West Newbury. This is a big boost to maintaining our transportation infrastructure. The superb collaboration among Senator Bruce Tarr, Representative Lenny Mirra, Governor Charlie Baker, the city of Newburyport and the Town was key. Special thanks go to DPW Director Wayne Amaral and Town Manager Angus Jennings for putting the proposal together.”
The fact that the bridge crosses a drinking water supply adds substantial permitting requirements, costs and complexity. The design, survey, and engineering are on schedule to be completed in April of 2021. Construction is projected to start in August of 2021 with anticipated completion in May of 2022.
Public meeting regarding Middle Street / Plummer Spring Road Bridge
Meeting was held on: Monday, September 23, 2019 at 7 PM
The City of Newburyport and the Town of West Newbury jointly sponsored a public meeting on Monday, September 23, 2019 beginning at 7:00 PM to review design alternatives and preliminary cost estimates associated with the reconstruction of the Middle Street / Plummer Spring Road Bridge. The meeting was held in the 1910 Building, First Floor Hearing Room, located at 381 Main Street in West Newbury. The meeting was televised on West Newbury local cable TV, with the meeting video available on the West Newbury YouTube channel here.
The bridge was closed to vehicular traffic last summer following a failure in the spandrel wall. The City of Newburyport secured a Small Bridge Program grant from the Massachusetts Department of Transportation to support engineering and design of the replacement bridge. Since that time, the two communities have been working together with the design engineer, BSC Group.
The design engineer recently completed a number of conceptual design alternatives, including preliminary cost estimates. The purpose of the meeting was to invite public review and comment. Key issues reviewed at the meeting included roadway width, pedestrian accommodations, bridge type, railing type, vehicular speed control and traffic safety, and project costs.
Taking into account public comments received, costs, and other factors, the two communities are in the process of selecting a preferred conceptual alternative to allow BSC Group to proceed with final project design and permitting. Once permitting is complete, and a final estimate of construction costs is available, the project is expected to be proposed for funding based on an agreed cost share, and offset by further grant monies as may be obtained.
For further information regarding the bridge project, please contact DPW Director Wayne Amaral at 978-363-1100 x120 or dpwdirector@wnewbury.org.
MassWorks Grant Application Submitted August, 2019
The complete grant application submitted by the Town in August, 2019 can be viewed or downloaded below.
Other Project Updates:
Test borings took place in February, 2019, which provided a key input to potential bridge designs. The consulting engineer has prepared conceptual design alternatives, with preliminary cost estimates, which are included below. At present, the Town is continuing to work with the City of Newburyport and, through them, the consultant engineer retained by the City in 2018. The Town is also working toward pursuing a MassWorks grant to support additional design and construction costs associated with the bridge.
Click here for a Town Manager memorandum to the Select Board Members dated August 2, 2021
Click here for a Town Manager update provided for the Board of Selectmen meeting on July 15, 2019
Click here for conceptual bridge design alternatives and cost estimates dated June 10, 2019
Click here for a Town Manager update provided for the Board of Selectmen meeting on May 13, 2019
Click here for a Town Manager update from meeting with MassDOT, January 11, 2019
Click here for a Town Manager update on the design process and anticipated timeline, November 9, 2018
Click here for a Town Manager update with Newburyport Mayor and Staff, August 1, 2018
