NORTHFIELD — Town officials are continuing to push for funding to replace Schell Bridge, this week voting to send a letter to U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg seeking around $25 million for the project.

This newest effort to secure federal funding follows unsuccessful advocacy last year and earlier this year to get a grant through the 2022 Rural Surface Transportation Grant Program. Should the town be successful this time, the $25 million in funding — which would come as part of the United States Department of Transportation’s Reconnecting Communities and Neighborhoods Grant Program — would supplement another $25 million that the Massachusetts Department of Transportation has already pledged toward the project.

“We were advised by the feds that ... we just have to keep at it,” Town Administrator Andrea Llamas said, emphasizing the importance of consistent advocacy.

MassDOT previously indicated that it may supplement its initial $25 million allocation with an additional $12.5 million. Selectboard Chair Alex Meisner said, however, that this allocation has not been finalized, and that any such additional funding may vary depending on how much money the USDOT awards.

The proposed project consists of the complete replacement of Schell Bridge, which carries East Northfield Road over the Connecticut River and has been closed since 1985 because it deteriorated beyond being safe to use.

Mallory Sullivan, Northfield’s grant development director, previously explained that construction on the 350-foot steel Pennsylvania truss bridge began in 1901 and it opened to the public in 1903. The bridge is named after Francis R. Schell, a New York merchant who gave $42,000 for its design and construction. It links two sections of Northfield, as the town is the only one in the state that is divided by the Connecticut River.

Authorities closed and barricaded the bridge, Sullivan said, after engineering studies in the 1970s and early 1980s determined it was structurally unsound. In its letter to Buttigieg, the Selectboard expresses that replacement of the bridge “has long been a priority.” A new bridge, which could take up to three years to build, would be exclusive to pedestrians and bicycles.

“The board strongly feels that this bridge project will enhance the quality of life, safety and connection for the town and region,” the letter reads.

The letter lists a variety of “transformative benefits” that would be enabled by the bridge’s reconstruction, including improved access between East and West Northfield, elimination of the threat of impending collapse, increased efficiency for first responders in the event of emergencies that require getting to the other side of the river, better means of accessing recreation and tourism destinations, and a bolstered local economy in correlation.

These benefits align flawlessly with the purpose of the federal grant program, the Selectboard argues. The USDOT’s website describes the Reconnecting Communities and Neighborhoods Grant Program as “a first-of-its-kind initiative to reconnect communities that are cut off from opportunity and burdened by past transportation infrastructure decisions.” Funding, which will total $1 billion over five years, “supports planning grants and capital construction grants, as well as technical assistance, to restore community connectivity through the removal, retrofit, mitigation or replacement of eligible transportation infrastructure facilities.” Last February, Buttigieg announced $185 million in grant awards for 45 projects through this initiative.

Additionally, the Selectboard’s letter stresses that the Schell Bridge “remains a pivotal icon of Northfield as we celebrate the town’s 350th anniversary in 2023.” Selectboard member Barbara “Bee” Jacque noted at Tuesday’s meeting that the theme of this year’s anniversary celebration is “reconnection.”

“What better metaphor than to use a bridge that actually reconnects Northfield?” Meisner agreed.

The USDOT will announce grant recipients in spring 2024, according to its website.

Reach Julian Mendoza at 413-930-4231 or jmendoza@recorder.com.