NEW: Ground Breaks on Burns Bridge Replacement
Monday, June 25, 2012
The project will rebuild the now deteriorating Burns Bridge over Lake Quinsigamond.
The $89.9 million Burns Bridge replacement project will widen the bridge to provide pedestrian and cycling accommodations, while accounting for increased traffic. This project is just one of five large-scale projects the Patrick-Murray administration has planned in its Accelerated Bridge Program.
The Commonwealth will not be going it alone in the Burn's Bridge replacement, as Federal funds will cover 80 percent of the project's total cost. The replacement comes because the bridge, built in 1916, is now considered structurally deficient to carry its estimated 53,000 vehicles daily.
"The Accelerated Bridge Program is extremely effective at rapidly rebuilding deficient bridges in our cities and towns," Lt. Gov. Murray said. "By partnering with state, local and federal officials, we are moving forward to replace the Burns Bridge, a bridge heavily used by commuters traveling in and out of Worcester. In doing so, we are also creating jobs and boosting the local economy."
The new bridge will provide three travel lanes in both directions with exclusive left and right turning lanes on the westbound approach to Worcester. Middlesex Corporation will construct the new bridge, and U.S. Congressman Jim McGovern says it will open up new opportunities in the region.
"This bridge will be more than a link between Shrewsbury and Worcester," McGovern said. "It will serve as a gateway to vital business districts; to a major regional medical and biotech hub; and to one of our region's greatest natural resources in lake Quinsigamond."
The Patrick-Murray Administration's Accelerated Bridge Program is an eight-year, $3 billion investment in Massachusetts bridges. Since 2008, the Program has created or sustained 15,404 direct construction jobs in the Commonwealth, and 38,000 indirect jobs.
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