By Shane Rhodes
FITCHBURG — With National Transportation Week officially rolling, U.S. Rep. Lori Trahan, D-3rd, Mayor Stephen DiNatale and others gathered to highlight investments in the city’s infrastructure, made possible by funding from the federal Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.
Federal funds will be used to preserve the Circle Street Bridge and the Water Street Bridge over the Nashua River. Funds will also be used to replace the Water Street Bridge over Boulder Drive and the Pan Am Railroad.
Signed into law last December, the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law delivered more than $9.5 billion in federal funds to Massachusetts, with more than $1 billion explicitly reserved for bridge repairs.
Trahan applauded Congress for its ability to work together on the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law amid “extreme polarization” and stressed the importance of federal investment in such infrastructure projects.
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“Infrastructure isn’t the issue that is most top of mind,” Trahan said. “But these projects are about more than a few potholes — they are about the safety of our communities.”
“In the past, these projects have been kicked down the road due to federal divestment. But, in a time of extreme polarization in Washington, it’s nice to see that a majority of us were able to come together and agree that we need to invest in our communities’ infrastructure,” she said.
Closed to vehicular traffic last summer, the Circle Street Bridge is in desperate need of repair, with multiple open areas in the concrete where the Nashua River can be seen below. The aging Water Street bridges, meanwhile, each carry more than 20,000 cars daily and grant vital access to the city. They were built in 1937 and 1900.
The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law will deliver $2.6 million directly to the Circle Street bridge project, according to Trahan, with an extra $661,000 from the state. The project will replace the bridge’s steel beams and add a reinforced concrete deck, as well as accessible ramps on the south side of the bridge.
More than $15 million in federal funds will be used on the Water Street bridges, with an extra $4 million from the state. While the bridge over Boulder Drive and the Pan Am Railroad will be replaced outright, the bridge over the Nashua River will receive similar treatment as the Circle Street Bridge.
DiNatale thanked Trahan for her continued work to secure much-needed federal funds for the city and state at large. State Sen. John Cronin, D-Lunenburg, who was also in attendance, applauded Trahan and said, because of her work, Fitchburg has seen a “greater flow of federal funding than any time since the New Deal.”
“Lori Trahan has been a great friend to the city of Fitchburg,” DiNatale said. “Throughout her time as representative, she has demonstrated outstanding collaboration and partnership to help our city address numerous needs.”
“The work put in here is going to be the anchor of our local and regional economy here in the 21st century,” Cronin said.
Trahan similarly thanked DiNatale and those in attendance — Cronin, state Rep. Michael Kushmerek, D-Fitchburg, MassDOT District Engineer Barry Lorion and interim Department of Public Works Commissioner Nick Erikson — for their continued work to make the city and state the best place it can possibly be.
“I get to work with a lot of mayors, but you are engaged on every level relentlessly,” Trahan said of DiNatale. “You have made sure that resources, whether federal or state, continue to come into the city of Fitchburg to make it a better place to live or work.”
“It’s incredible to be able to pick up the phone and speak with those who are so aligned with the priorities of Fitchburg and beyond,” she said.
According to Lori, the Circle Street bridge will be advertised for construction in August, with the goal for reconstruction to be complete sometime in 2023. He also said the replacement of the Water Street Bridge is “about 50 percent designed,” while the two bridges would be advertised for construction in 2024.
Trahan also said she looks forward to future infrastructure projects, including future improvements to Route 2 or the continued construction of the Twin Cities Rail Trail.
“The impact of these projects in the communities across our districts cannot be overstated,” she said. “I look forward to seeing these critical projects completed in the months and years ahead.”
