The video clip showed a small truck driving down the roadway, the East Street Bridge looming ahead.

The crowd gathered in the Downey School cafeteria held their breath, waiting for the inevitable ending.

In the next few seconds, the truck crashed into the bridge, tearing off the upper part of the cargo storage area and scattering it along the road. Another clip showed a smaller car hitting the granite curb beneath the bridge and colliding head-on with another car.

Mike Jaillet, Town Administrator, explained that the videos illustrate an issue most Westwood residents were familiar with—

accidents stemming from the height and design of the East Street Bridge.

A presentation given this past Monday at the Board of Selectmen meeting detailed the early stages of the town and Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority’s (MBTA) plan to reduce accidents caused by the bridge design. From 2009 to 2015, the Westwood Police Department recorded 81 accidents at the bridge. A few years ago, a camera showing a live feed of the bridge was installed at the intersection of Washington and East streets.

"The most serious concerns that we have are that injuries will occur," said Jaillet. "We became very concerned when the MBTA [bus] hit the bridge and there was a gas leak."

In May 2012, an MBTA bus struck the bridge, causing a rupture of the propane fuel tank on its roof.

Peter Paravalos—MBTA Director of Transit-Oriented Development and project manager for East Street bridge—discussed the plans for improvement at the meeting. The project would increase the vertical clearance for the bridge by lowering the road, raising the train tracks, and reducing the depth of the structure.

Paravalos added that the roadway width would be increased as well, with travel lanes and sidewalks added. The design of the project would be fully funded by the MBTA and there would be no cost to the town.

"We are going to try to straighten the road in addition to improving the clearance," he said. "There are some challenges as far as geometry....there are some issues as far as what can be done."

Paravalos said working with what is available in relation to the tracks and nearby Islington Station, he hoped to raise the bridge to about 13'-6", which would prevent larger trucks from traveling under it, but should allow smaller commercial vehicles to pass safely. Because the project is still in the early stages, questions of drainage, utilities, and other suggestions from the community have not yet been fully evaluated.

In an effort to reduce the number of accidents, the town invested $40,000 in additional signage to alert trucks to the low profile of the bridge. There is a two-ton weight limit for crossing, which prevents larger cargo trucks from passing through, but smaller trucks with a height extending past the 10' 6" vertical clearance have been involved in several accidents.

"We'll never know if it [the additional signs] did reduce [accidents]," Jaillet said. "The hope is that some trucks didn't hit the bridge because of those signs."

Paravalos said the design phase would continue through November 2016, but that this was an aggressive estimate and would likely run longer. Construction, which would consist of two weekends of road closures, would take place in June 2017, with the bridge installation occurring around spring or summer of 2018. The MBTA will return with a public presentation of the 30 percent design phase once a plan has been determined.

The presentation and further information about the project can be found on the town website at www.townhall.westwood.ma.us.