Revamped Main Street Bridge nears completion

PAWTUCKET – The overhaul of the Main Street Bridge near the Slater Mill is nearing completion, another upgrade to a riverfront area that’s seen a significant transformation over the past two years.

It was 2012 when officials from the Rhode Island Department of Transportation declared that the sidewalks on the bridge were no longer suitable to accommodate pedestrians, requiring officials to move the cantilevered sidewalks overhanging the river onto the main bridge structure.

The project is about 80 percent complete, said Andrew Silvia, civil engineer for the Pawtucket Department of Public Works. He said Cardi Corp. has done a “nice job.”

The new sidewalks, which mean a slightly narrowed roadway, are designed to look old. The 1858 Main Street Bridge is considered the oldest active highway bridge in the state. The 110-foot span was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1983. The stone arch bridge was twice widened to account for increased traffic.

The Pawtucket Falls crash under the bridge and are considered the dividing line between the Blackstone River and the Seekonk River.

About $550,000 of the base $800,000 cost for the project was funded through grants, according to officials.

The total cost of the project, with contract changes, fees, and payments to National Grid and Verizon for utility relocation work, is $1,012,865, said Silvia. It’s being completed on budget, he said.

The bridge project is separate from the earlier Pawtucket river wall project, which involved the replacement of the river wall from the bridge around Slater Mill and to the Exchange Street Bridge.

The project included installation of new pedestrian guardrails on both sides of the bridge.