Winter Street Bridge
The Winter Street Bridge in Framingham, Massachusetts is set to close so that a new bridge can be installed. The new bridge is scheduled to be completed by September 2017, just in time for the new school year.
The bridge handles about 8,000 cars a day, according to a traffic count done last April.
Most of the people that use the bridge come are coming from Ashland and are heading towards Route 9. Some popular places are Joseph P. Keefe Regional Technical High School, and Framingham's Barbieri Elementary School and Framingham State University.
The new bridge will be wider than the current bridge, which will allow for turning lanes at the Waverly and Fountain Street intersections. The goal of the new bridge will be to reduce traffic congestion at Winter Street's intersections with Fountain Street and Waverly Street.
A pedestrian access will be maintained throughout the project.
Accelerated Bridge Program
The MassDOT Accelerated Bride Program is a major infrastructure investment to fix all the high-risk bridges in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Through October 1, 2016 the MassDOT Accelerated Bridge Program has advertised 200 construction contracts with a combined construction budget valued at $2.45 billion.
According to the active project listing provided by the MassDOT the Bid amount for this project is $6,649,130. The Construction Contractor for this project is Northern Construction Service, LLC.
The original plans, from MassDOT, had the bridge to be closed 14 months from June 2015 to Aug. 2016. The project was delayed due to planning issues - including work on another bridge on Winter Street.
Alternative Routes
Fountain Street will see an increase in traffic. Drivers from Ashland will be better off using the Fountain Street exit on 135, near the Best Friends Pet Care. Drivers from Downtown Framingham would be best to use Fountain Street, near the Ron's Tire and Service and Walgreens.
Both of these routes will make avoiding the traffic around Winter Street a bit easier.
Winter Street Bridge 2013
On June 10, 2013, the Winter Street Bridge over the Sudbury River closed for repairs. This was the first time in 83 years that the road was closed to repair that bridge.