White Bridge in Turners Falls down to one lane for structural repairs

TURNERS FALLS — As the state Department of Transportation (MassDOT) begins work this week on structural steel and concrete repairs, the White Bridge at the base of Turners Falls Road is expected to have alternating one-way traffic through at least the end of March.

The work will take place Monday through Thursday from 6 a.m. to 4 p.m., according to MassDOT spokesperson John Goggin. Some work, Goggin said, will require “intermittent full closures,” which the agency will publicize in advance.

He added this was scheduled work and not a result of a safety inspection or other outside incident. The White Bridge, which connects Greenfield and Turners Falls, was built in 1936, according to MassDOT’s bridge inventory.

The repairs on the bridge are expected to keep it structurally sound until 2026, when MassDOT will begin to undertake a $60 million bridge replacement project that was approved by the state in 2022 and is anticipated to be funded through the Franklin Regional Council of Governments’ Transportation Improvement Plan, according to MassDOT’s project database. The mass replacement will include the White Bridge, the cross-canal Green Bridge and Sixth Street’s Bailey Bridge.

Alternate routes between Greenfield and Turners Falls include the Turners Falls-Gill Bridge connecting the village to Route 2 and the General Pierce Bridge on Montague City Road over the Connecticut River.

Chris Larabee can be reached at clarabee@recorder.com or 413-930-4081.