A river – and $21.4 million – runs through it

By Melanie Gilbert 

LOWELL — There’s the Merrimack River, and then there’s the river of money that is about to flow through Lowell in the coming years thanks to federal and local partnerships that secured millions of dollars for the city’s bridges.

On Monday, the federal delegation of Senators Ed Markey and Elizabeth Warren and U.S. Rep. Lori Trahan showed up at City Hall with a check for $21.4 million in Bipartisan Infrastructure Law federal funding for four Mill City bridges that span canals fed by the mighty Merrimack.

Trahan called the funding a “once-in-a-generation infrastructure package” that will “transform cities like Lowell that have long been left to fend for themselves.”

The four city-owned bridges that are part of the Rebuilding American Infrastructure with Sustainability and Equity grant program, called RAISE, that is embedded within the legislation, includes:

• Broadway Street Bridge over the West Canal in the Acre

• Market Street Bridge over the Merrimack Canal in Downtown Lowell

• Lawrence Street Bridge over the River Meadow Brook in Back Central

• Swamp Locks Pedestrian Bridge over the Lower Pawtucket Canal in the Acre

• Lawrence Street Bridge over the River Meadow Brook in Back Central

• Swamp Locks Pedestrian Bridge over the Lower Pawtucket Canal in the Acre

An enthusiastic crowd packed the Mayor’s Reception Room on the second floor of City Hall to hear the remarks from the federal delegation and city leadership on the RAISE grant funding project, as well as to witness the ceremonial celebration of a facsimile of the check, which Trahan called “just the start” of securing more funding for critical infrastructure projects.

“I look forward to seeing these critical projects completed in the months and years ahead, and working with everyone here this morning to make sure we keep delivering the resources necessary to make Lowell an even better place to raise a family, to work and to call home,” she said.

This isn’t the first time Senators Warren and Markey have delivered a significant investment for Lowell bridges. In 2015, the duo worked with then-Congresswoman Niki Tsongas to secure a $19.2 million Department of Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery, or TIGER grant, for five canal bridges. The Central Street Bridge was the last bridge in that reconstruction and rehabilitation project.

The other four bridges were the Merrimack Street bridges over Western Canal and Pawtucket Canal and the Pawtucket Street bridges over Pawtucket Canal and Northern Canal.

This is the second time this month that Lowell has hosted visiting dignitaries bearing gifts. Last week, Gov. Maura Healey and Lt. Gov. Kim Driscoll beat a path to Lowell’s door to sign the Chapter 90 bill that includes $1.87 million for Lowell. The bill will reimburse municipalities for maintenance on bridges and roads and authorize funding for transportation infrastructure grants.

The ending of that project and the launch of a new one was serendipitous, said Trahan.

“The Central Street Bridge represents the last of the five bridges funded through that grant so it’s perfect timing for this new federal investment to roll into this city,” she said, to applause.

Both Warren and Markey called the bridge money “historic,” and highlighted the role the Merrimack River and the canals play in the Lowell’s founding and future.

“Canals and the river are part of what make Lowell Lowell,” Warren said.

Markey said his family settled in Lawrence because of the Merrimack River.

“I would not be here if not for the Merrimack River,” he said. The Senator often weaves in personal anecdotes to his public remarks.

“I’d still be on a farm in Iowa somewhere,” Markey said. “It’s the Merrimack River that brought the Markey family to Lawrence. Lawrence, like Lowell, dammed that river and built the bridges in order to have the infrastructure that draw families to this region.”

He called the bridges “vital connections” for economic and population growth — especially immigrants.

“It’s all about community, family,” he said. “It’s all about families and having a welcome mat for the new generation of immigrant families. We know that immigrants will make American great again. We know that in Lowell – the city of immigrants.”

The detailed and complicated application was completed by the Department of Planning and Development’s Transportation Engineer Elizabeth Oltman, whose efforts City Manager Tom Golden specifically recognized in his remarks, saying “she did a fabulous job.”

Oltman said she had never done a grant of this size or expertise before, but a team effort made the process possible.

“I was the primary grant writer,” she said. “I worked with the team to pull everything together to make sure we had the i’s dotted and t’s crossed.”

She said it may take at least six years to complete all four bridges with the pedestrian access Swamp Lock Bridge, which has already gone through a design phase, being completed first.

That news cheered Lowell National Historical Park Superintendent Julie Galonska, who looked forward to the Market Street Bridge repairs, too, both of which she called “gateways” to Lowell.

“The Lowell National Historical Park is really the core of downtown,” she said. “We tell the story of the Industrial Revolution here in Lowell and its legacies. The canals and the river are a huge part of that. So these bridges that go over canals are very integral to our experience within the National Park for visitors and for local folks. The Market Street Bridge is right by our Visitor Center. The Swamp Locks Bridge, one of our lock-and-dam structures, is where our canal boat tours are.”

As the room cleared out after the ceremony, Oltman said the grant project was an eye-popping experience.

“It’s amazing the amount of money that is coming from the federal government to do these types of projects,” she said. “I already have the next grant in mind.”