WESTFIELD—Though the Westfield Fire Department is once again able to cross the Cowles Bridge along Routes 10 and 202, the issue drew concern and months of waiting before a resolution was reached.
The issue began Aug. 3, when the Westfield Fire Department was informed by a letter from the Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT) that their vehicles that are over the posted weight limit of the Cowles Bridge could not utilize the bridge. The department immediately sought a waiver to use the bridge but the waiver took months to be received, which resulted in city and state officials becoming involved in the process.
The bridge, which crosses over the Little River on the way to Southwick at the intersection of South Maple St, Mill St. and Southwick Rd., is overseen by MassDOT. The weight restrictions for the bridge are 12 tons for 2-axle vehicles, 16 tons for 3-axle vehicles and 29 tons for 5-axle vehicles.
A portion of Cowles Bridge, which is along Southwick Road.
A majority of the City’s fire department vehicles exceeded the limits, thus many of their vehicles, including fire engines, could not cross the bridge.
The letter sent to the Westfield Fire Department read as follows:
“It has come to the attention of MassDOT that a Westfield Fire Department vehicle exceeding the posted weight limits crosses the bridge. While MassDOT understand that the restrictions may be a hardship to some Municipal services, a vehicle exceeding the posted limits should not cross the bridge unless an analysis of the specific vehicle has been performed and MassDOT has granted a waiver for that vehicle to cross the bridge.”
The department was using the bridge for emergency purposes prior to the letter from MassDOT, which was previously OKed by the Westfield Police Department, according to Westfield Fire Chief Mary Regan in the Aug. 9 article from The Westfield News.
The posted weight limit on Cowles Bridge.
However, according to Westfield Police Officer Charles Kielbasa of the city police department’s traffic bureau from the same article, he was unaware of such an agreement.
“I don’t know where that came from, if they in fact had anything like that,” he was quoted as saying in the article.
The department requested a waiver from MassDOT, and also devised ways to respond to the other side of the bridge, though delays in responses had occurred.
The department and city were initially given a timeline of about three weeks from MassDOT of when a potential waiver could be received. However, as that time passed and no waiver or result was produced, concern grew in the city.
In September, the City Council looked into the matter, as their Public Health and Safety Committee held a meeting with city and state officials on the matter. It was said by Rep. John Velis that he had also placed pressure upon MassDOT for a decision.
Eventually, on Nov. 20, word finally came from Velis that a waiver would be coming to the city. Then, two days later on Nov. 22, the Westfield Fire Department finally received a waiver from MassDOT.
The waiver would allow for four of the five department engines to use the bridge, with additional restrictions of a 5 MPH speed limit and that the bridge only be used in emergencies.
