The process to solve a years-long issue of a deteriorating bridge in Hampden has started.
Hampden Town Councilors on Monday approved town staff to obtain easements to build an access road connecting Manning Mill Road with Emmerson Mill Road. The approval is the first step toward either a new road being built or an aging bridge being repaired.
The approval came after residents asked many questions and two homeowners gave accounts of how it will change their retirements.
The Hampden Town Council is faced with the decision to either repair a deteriorating bridge over the Souadabscook Stream connecting six homes on Manning Mill Road with the rest of the town or build a connecting road. Building an access road from Emmerson Mill Road would allow the town to either turn it into a permanent route or bring in equipment for the bridge to be fixed.
A cost estimate for the access road or the repair of the bridge were not presented at Monday’s meeting. Town officials previously estimated that the bridge would need $5 million in repairs and a new road would cost roughly $2 million.
Although the bridge’s deteriorating state has been known for years, a change in the bridge’s weight limit last week brought it to the forefront. At its new weight limit, the bridge can only hold three tons at a time, meaning that fire trucks, school buses and mail trucks are not able to cross it.
Mail service to the six homes across the bridge was suspended Monday, Town Manager Paula Scott said.
Residents living on Manning Mill Road and Emerson Mill Road, where the access road would connect to, said they didn’t know every detail of the plan. Many of their comments during the meeting were focused on how the additional road would create traffic and how they could still be accessed by town services while it’s being built.
Multiple councilors said town staff have been working to solve many of the residents’ issues.
Hampden officials have talked with a resident whose house is near the Manning Mill bridge who may be willing to sell a portion of his land so the town can build a turnaround for a school bus and an area for mailboxes, Scott said.
Councilors approved the purchase of a Polaris side by side, a type of ATV, for the fire department to use for responses across the bridge. The side by side can also be used to plow the portion of the road over the bridge, but it may be a long process, Scott said.
“These are just some of the considerations that we’ve been talking about, within the last day. And I hope you understand that there’s a lot of moving parts to all of this, and we’re trying to respond in the best way that we can with regard to other access points,” Scott said.
The fire department is also testing how far they could use their hoses to respond to fires on the dead-end section of the road, Deputy Fire Chief Jason Lundstrom said.
One couple, Tom and Maryanne Rhoads, had some questions that couldn’t be answered at the meeting.
The Rhoads’ home sits on the portion of Emerson Mill Road that is proposed to be used for the access road. Plans show the 11 acres they live on being split almost in half.
Having a road through their property would change how they live and their retirement plans, Maryanne Rhoads said. The couple built a pool and a new driveway and have no issues with people being around their property, Maryanne Rhoads said.
An estimate from a real estate agent had their property’s value plummeting by $300,000, Tom Rhoads said.
Plans shown at Monday’s meeting had the street going through what is currently the Rhoads’ yard and a landlocked lot behind them that is owned by the Dysart’s family. Maryanne and Tom Rhoads said the Dysart’s family could benefit from building housing and the Manning Mill Road residents would benefit by having more access, but they would only be hurt.
The Rhoads said they would be willing to temporarily have the access road on their property, possibly up to three years, if it meant emergency services could reach the rest of the road and the bridge could be repaired.
It would be a three-year process before work could even begin on the bridge, Public Works Director Jonathan Clements said.
Councilors voted unanimously to approve staff to obtain easements after discussing what other routes could be taken and deciding the proposal was a positive first action. Councilors said it would take multiple steps for many questions to be answered.
“I just hope that people have faith that while it may be imperfect, we really are trying to do the best that we can to look at both the immediate need and down the road, and if you can do that, if you can bear with the town a little bit on this, it’ll be greatly appreciated,” Councilor Dennis Marble said.