Public Meeting Notice  East Brookfield South Pond Road over South Pond Inlet Bridge replacement

A Design Public Hearing will be held by MassDOT to discuss the proposed South Pond Road over South Pond Inlet Bridge Replacement Project in Brookfield and East Brookfield, MA.

Purpose:

The purpose of this hearing is to provide the public with the opportunity to become fully acquainted with the proposed South Pond Road over South Pond Inlet bridge replacement project. All views and comments made at the hearing will be reviewed and considered to the maximum extent possible.

Proposal:

The proposed project consists of replacing the existing South Pond Road Bridge over the South Pond Inlet with new, single span vehicular bridge and pedestrian bridge structures. The vehicular bridge will be 31'-3" wide with a 35'-0" span length. The pedestrian bridge will be 8'-0" wide with a 45'-0" span length. The bridges will consist of precast, prestressed concrete NEXT beams on pile-supported concrete integral abutments located behind the existing abutments, which will partially remain in place. There will also be roadway improvements to the bridge approaches including: new guardrail, planted slopes and a drainage swale in the shoulder at the northeast approach to the bridge. The existing flow control gate will remain in place with proposed connections to the proposed pedestrian bridge. No modifications to the gate capacity are proposed. The existing gate controls will be removed, serviced, and replaced in a position allowing them to be operated from the safety of the proposed pedestrian bridge.

A secure right-of-way is necessary for this project. Acquisitions in fee and permanent or temporary easements may be required. The Town of Brookfield and the Town of East Brookfield are responsible for acquiring all needed rights in private or public lands. MassDOT's policy concerning land acquisitions will be discussed at this hearing.

Written views received by MassDOT subsequent to the date of this notice and up to five (5) days prior to the date of the hearing shall be displayed for public inspection and copying at the time and date listed above. Plans will be on display one-half hour before the hearing begins, with an engineer in attendance to answer questions regarding this project. A project handout will be made available on the MassDOT website listed below.

Written statements and other exhibits in place of, or in addition to, oral statements made at the Public Hearing regarding the proposed undertaking are to be submitted to Patricia A. Leavenworth, P.E., Chief Engineer, MassDOT, 10 Park Plaza, Boston, MA 02116, Attention: Bridge Project Management, Project File No. 608190. Such submissions will also be accepted at the hearing. Mailed statements and exhibits intended for inclusion in the public hearing transcript must be postmarked within ten (10) business days of this Public Hearing. Project inquiries may be emailed to dot.feedback.highway@state.ma.us.

This location is accessible to people with disabilities. MassDOT provides reasonable accommodations and/or language assistance free of charge upon request (including but not limited to interpreters in American Sign Language and languages other than English, open or closed captioning for videos, assistive listening devices and alternate material formats, such as audio tapes, Braille and large print), as available. For accommodation or language assistance, please contact MassDOT's Chief Diversity and Civil Rights Officer by phone (857-368-8580), fax (857-368-0602), TTD/TTY (857-368-0603) or by email MASSDOT.CivilRights@dot.state.ma.us. Requests should be made as soon as possible prior to the meeting, and for more difficult to arrange services including sign-language, CART or language translation or interpretation, requests should be made at least ten business days before the meeting.

In case of inclement weather, hearing cancellation announcements will be posted on the MassHighway website http://www.massdot.state.ma.us/Highway/.