State highway officials told Haverhill city councilors traffic on the Pfc. Ralph T. Basiliere Bridge, which connects Haverhill’s downtown to Bradford, will be cut in half to one lane in each direction beginning in mid-September until the $240 million replacement is completed in 2032.
Additionally, drivers coming from Bradford will no longer be able to take a left onto Merrimack Street off the bridge and instead will be redirected up to Bailey Boulevard. Meanwhile, heavy truck traffic is being redirected to Interstate 495, away from downtown, and residents asked to seek alternative routes. Nathaniel Cabral-Curtis, a communications consultant, said a combination of emails, a website and push notifications will help get the message out.
“What we are really trying to do is push that truck traffic away from downtown Haverhill and say, ‘Hey, there’s no restrictions of any sort on 495. It’s right over there. Please go and use it. Here are several routes from the north and south halves of Haverhill for you to get there’,” Cabral-Curtis said.
At-large Councilor Thomas J. Sullivan added it is best if residents also avoid the bridge when possible.
“I think it is important that the residents understand that we have five exits off 495 to get to various parts of Haverhill. And I know, I, for one, live near one. So, if I want to go to River Street from where I am in Ward Hill, I’ll just get on the highway and skip the downtown,” Sullivan suggested.
The current mostly concrete span, built in 1925, is being replaced with a steel design with two traffic lanes in both directions as well as protected pedestrian and bike lanes. Colored uplighting will decorate the bridge at night. A formal groundbreaking was held in April with preliminary construction work starting this summer.
Cabral-Curtis said the state is going to great pains to keep the bridge open during construction as it is an important artery for the fire and police departments as well as downtown merchants. A federal grant of $190 million helped speed the replacement timeline.
The bridge was dedicated in 1972 to Pfc. Ralph T. Basiliere, the city’s first causality in the Vietnam War. Basiliere was just 20 when he was killed in action May 17, 1966.