Monster highway project: What started as a simple bridge replacement in the western suburbs is mushrooming into a mini Big Dig, critics say
It clearly needs to go, the crumbling, 1930s-era bridge in Natick that spans a bustling stretch of Route 9 packed with shopping plazas and malls.
But what should have been a cut-and-dried bridge replacement has somehow become a $100 million-plus behemoth involving a dramatic overhaul of the Route 9/27 interchange, leaving some local residents and officials scratching their heads.
By contrast, the Cedar Street bridge in Wellesley over Route 9 was replaced over a single weekend in 2011 for $3.7 million, a relative bargain.
“It started out as a bridge replacement and now it’s a massive reconfiguration of the interchange,” said one local insider, who called the $100 million - and counting - price tag “enormous by any measure.”
Plans now call for three new bridges, including one for bikes and pedestrians, and a bunch of new traffic lights and crosswalks as part of a “divergent diamond interchange,’” the first of its kind in Massachusetts.
“We couldn’t even take care of one bridge and now we will have three,” our source notes.
However, barring any last-minute qualms by the Healey administration, McCourt Construction and Jacobs Engineering, which have been awarded the project, are expected to begin construction this year.
That said, given past history, don’t be surprised if the cost just continues to soar for the massive project, with the design typically reserved for interstate highway interchanges, not suburban roadways.
The cost was initially pegged at $50 million back in 2021, only to rise to $71 million last spring and then $99 million when the Massachusetts Department of Transportation awarded the contract in July.
And state officials have warned the total price tag could hit $118 million, after costs for “additional project engineering work, contingency funds, and traffic police,” are added in, Streetsblog Mass reported at the time.
Oh yeah, and there is also substantial green space between all the new ramps and spokes of the proposed interchange, but state transportation officials have no plans to pay to maintain it, leaving that to the town or the neighbors.
File under: Your tax dollars at work.
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