The Central Street Bridge will be closed starting April 14 as it undergoes a full replacement
There will be no vehicle or pedestrian access to Central Street from Washington Street. The only access to Central Street will be via Plymouth Street or Park Street.
“We estimate for the Central Street Bridge project [the closure] will be 19 weeks,” said Abington Public Works Director John Stone.
Central Street is short but one of Abington’s key thoroughfares. It connects Washington Street and Plymouth Street and provides direct waterfront access to Island Grove Pond. The town’s police station and public works yard are also located on the road, as is St. Bridget’s Catholic Church.
The bridge spans the Shumatuscacant River as it empties into Island Grove Pond.
The state’s last inspection of the bridge gave the beams and deck a rating of 3 out of 10. If the bridge’s conditions deteriorated further, the bridge could have been closed permanently.
Several years ago the state recommended that they cone off a side of the bridge to prevent motorists from stopping on the worst parts of the bridge.
Unlike the Center Avenue Bridge, where Abington received grant funding through the state’s Small Bridge Program, the Central Street Bridge does not meet the program’s criteria. The Small Bridge Program is for bridges with a span of under 20 feet. The span of the Central St. Bridge is 24 feet. So at the Town Meeting of November 2020, the Town approved funding for the project in the amount of $890,000.
“The scope of this project is mainly focused on replacing beams and deck, however new railings will be included,” Stone said.