The Main Street Bridge project saw its first vehicle crossing Wednesday morning, as the bridge officially opened to two-way vehicle traffic, the culmination of 18 months of work.
The second vehicle to cross – following a pickup truck carrying former Town Administrator Rodney Bartlett and Selectman Bill Taylor – was a fire truck from the Peterborough Fire Department, with its lights on while honking at the assembled crowd of residents and town officials. Its prominent crossing served as a nod to the fact that the previous bridge could not sustain the weight of the department’s largest vehicles and necessitated a workaround.
“It’s very exciting. It’s big,” said Fire Chief Ed Walker after the crossing. The bridge was restricted to 10 tons sometime in 2013, he said, making it so the fire trucks could not cross, although ambulances still could. He said that having access to the Main Street Bridge would dramatically affect the department’s ability to travel to calls, especially with work starting on the Route 101 bridge that will change traffic patterns.
“It’s a big milestone for the project,” said Town Administrator Nicole MacStay, who added that she herself was excited to have the bridge open to traffic to make her driving easier.
The bridge project is not quite complete, as evidenced by the presence of concrete barriers along the sides of the bridge and the work crews continuing on-site. Due to delays caused by COVID-19, weather, and other unforeseen circumstances, the project’s completion date is currently estimated to be in July, although a date is not set in stone.
MacStay estimated that there were about eight to 10 months left before completion.
Flagger Ken Hodgson, who has been manning the Main Street/Route 202 intersection with his STOP/SLOW sign for the past nine months or so, said he expects to be out there as long as the work continues. Hodgson has become the face of the bridge project in recent months with his daily presence on the corner as passers-through sit waiting for their turn in traffic.
“It’s been a paycheck for me,” Hodgson said.
Department of Public Works Director Seth MacLean said that while the opening of the bridge to traffic was a significant milestone, there should be no celebration just yet.
“We won’t be planning an official ribbon-cutting until we can definitely pinpoint the official end of the project,” he said.
Ben Conant contributed to this story.