WEST SPRINGFIELD/AGAWAM – The Morgan-Sullivan Bridge has completely opened all five lanes of traffic as of April 24, bringing Bridge Work Stage 2 to a close and well ahead of schedule.

“MassDOT and Northern Construction LLC has done an outstanding job of being considerate of our needs as a community, with our businesses, and residents trying to get into and out of West Springfield over that bridge and everything they have done to expedite it and minimize intrusions and inconvenience. The fact that they did the paving on a Saturday when it was lower traffic and people didn’t have to go into work made it seamless,” Agawam Mayor William Sapelli said.

He has also talked to residents who said they could not believe how quickly they got it done when two years ago they were saying it would take until May 2022 and it would include many traffic jams, which hasn’t been the case. He added there was a little back up, but it really moved very smoothly.

Both Sapelli and West Springfield Mayor Reichelt petitioned Gov. Charlie Baker’s office to negotiate incentive money with Northern Construction. There was a fee to agree under certain conditions to get the job done sooner than the expected date. When they first started the project in 2016 and were given the timeframe on when the project would be completed, along with the stages, they negotiated to give Northern Construction around $1.2 million to get it done earlier. This included working nights and weekends, which was not in the contract originally. This negotiation along with the diligence of Northern Construction is why the bridge is being completed sooner than the expected date, Mayor Sapelli stated.

“Thrilled that the bridge is fully open and look forward to the surrounding work being completed soon as well. The new bridge is a much better experience than the old,” Reichelt said.  

Physical roadwork started June 2018 and bridge work started January 2019.  

Bridge work Stage 2 began on July 11, 2020, when vehicular traffic was shifted to the newly constructed west side of the bridge.

The current expectation for completion is in late July or early August.

“It’s so impressive when you drive over the bridge now, which I did. I couldn’t wait to drive over Sunday and see how massive it is. It’s solving a lot of problems for us in regard to safety and now having that wide bike lane in and pedestrian walkway. It’s just phenomenal, we couldn’t be any happier, they’ve done a great job,” Sapelli said.

There are currently three MassDOT employees working on the project, but that will soon be reduced to one MassDOT employee on site. The final cost, which is based on measurements of actual itemized quantities, is projected to be $24.49 million.

The major work that is left includes constructing traffic islands, completing traffic signal systems, decorative lights, street lighting on the bridge, installing bridge deck joints, completing sidewalk areas, raising castings to final grade, paving top course and installing permanent pavement markings.