Nathaniel Cabral-Curtis from WSP answers questions from residents about the design proposed Vietnam Veterans’ Memorial Bridge replacement.
Reminder Publishing photo by Tyler Garnet
CHICOPEE — The Massachusetts Department of Transportation hosted a public hearing on April 3 at Liberty Church to discuss the replacement of the Vietnam Veterans’ Memorial Bridge.
The design is not finalized, and the public hearing gave the residents an opportunity to express their concerns, mention events that may be affected by construction and learn about the project.
In a notice from MassDOT about the meeting, it said the bridge carrying Interstate 391 over Route 116, locally Chicopee Street, has reached its useful lifespan and must be replaced.
Although many members from MassDOT expressed it is currently safe for users, the replacement of the structure will provide the residents of Williamansett and the traveling public with a new bridge with a 75-year design life that will utilize modern standards and require less maintenance.
The proposed new structure will restore the existing bridge’s intended full capacity with three lanes in each direction.
The existing bridge is 840 feet long and 111 feet wide. MassDOT currently anticipates that it will propose to replace the existing bridge with a new structure consisting of four spans, the two outer spans would be 165 feet long and the two inner spans would be 180 feet long.
During construction, Andy Benkert, from WSP and the project manager for the design portion of this project, said they expect to maintain traffic on I-391 by pushing all traffic to one half of the current bridge, demolishing the vacant half, building the first half of the new bridge, relocating traffic to the partial new structure, removing the rest of the 1979 bridge, building the second half of the new bridge, and finally opening the completed new bridge with three northbound and three southbound lanes.
Chicopee Street below the bridge will also generally remain open, but there will be times, such as during demolition immediately above the road, that it will need to be closed, and traffic detoured to ensure public safety. I-391 will generally remain open, but rolling roadblocks could be implemented at times.
Benkert talked about the eventual construction period and explained they would like to cause minimal disturbances in the community.
He said, “Our goal is to keep you moving during construction. Nobody likes a lengthy detour. We want to shift traffic from the northbound side of the bridge to the southbound side. What that’s going to allow us to do is remove the bridge as unit, replace the bridge as a unit and then swap traffic back over and finish the other side.”
They also noted the importance of Vietnam Veterans’ Park and Benkert said they will make every effort to avoid construction impacts and if they cannot, they will be repaired.
“Our goal is to stay out of the park as much as possible,” Benkert said. “The one thing I want you to take away from this is anything that is damaged as part of construction, will be replaced or reconstructed.”
Brenda Codella, who covers District 1 and 2 with the right of way bureau, said she is responsible for acquiring all the necessary rights and private and public lands for design and construction.
She explained that effected property owners will be contacted from someone from the right of way bureau or a consultant from MassDOT to discuss the project and impacts to your property.
This is not the last time the public will have a chance to discuss or learn about the project. Another public information meeting will take place in the summer and a 25% design public hearing will take place in the fall.
If everything goes according to schedule, MassDOT will advertise for construction in spring 2026, issue notice to proceed to the winning bidder in fall 2026 and construction is not expected to begin until spring 2027.
The preliminary project cost for the currently anticipated replacement bridge is $167.9 million.
More information about construction staging, traffic management, project cost, and project timing will be provided at the second public meeting and the 25% design public hearing.
All interested members of the public are encouraged to sign up to receive emails at our project website at tinyurl.com/yc8h479r.
