A view of Haverhill’s Basiliere Bridge as seen from the Merrimack River. (WHAV News photograph by Jay Saulnier.)
Haverhill Mayor James J. Fiorentini was scheduled today to view repairs to the Basiliere Bridge after he complained earlier this week about growing defects on the 93-year-old span.
Fiorentini took to Twitter this week to demand the Commonwealth act on what has been listed as a “Structurally Deficient Bridge” since at least 2003. The mayor complained the state has been promising for nearly a decade to rebuild the route 125 structure, connecting Haverhill and the Bradford section of the city.
“This bridge needs to be fixed or replaced as soon as possible before there is a mandated closing,” he said.
Responding, the state sent a subcontractor to make repairs to the bridge’s center bridge joints. The company will also place steel plates over holes in the sidewalks, and will, according to a Wednesday email from the state, “continue to monitor the bridge and schedule repairs as needed.”
As WHAV reported two years ago, the then-$64 million plan to replace Basiliere Bridge and add a bikeway will not be paid by the state until at least sometime after 2021.
The span carries roughly 35,000 vehicles per day over the Merrimack River between the Bradford and downtown sides of the water.