March 13--City officials have received clearance from the state for the Fire Department's ambulances and emergency rescue vehicles to resume travel over the beleaguered Blynman Bridge, while they and state officials continue to hash out potential longer-term solutions to issues raised by the bridge's newly reduced weight limits.
Mayor Carolyn Kirk said late Wednesday that the city received clearance to use units Rescue 1 and 2 and the newly activated Rescue 4 -- an old and smaller ambulance the city brought in from storage earlier Wednesday because it could meet the bridge's new weight requirements -- based on "scaled weights" of the vehicles.
Initially, the mayor said, the city's two primary emergency rescue vehicles were blocked from using the bridge based on their maximum weights. However, fire Chief Eric Smith carried out a weighing of the vehicles and confirmed that, as presently equipped, they fall within the bridge's new weight limits, and the state Department of Transportation signed off on their use, the mayor said.
"It's a first step -- it's a start," said Kirk, still grappling with state officials over longer-term solutions to the bridge weights, which have put the more-than-century-old drawbridge off-limits to fire trucks, school and Cape Ann Transit Authority buses, and a number of trucks that regularly travel to and from West Gloucester and Magnolia to local businesses.
The issue has especially raised concern about fire safety coverage; while the city's satellite fire station in West Gloucester has been staffed, the one in Magnolia generally has not and remains in need of renovation and repair.
Wednesday, State Minority Leader Bruce Tarr, R-Gloucester, said his office is in the midst of putting together a meeting with Richard Davey, secretary of the state Department of Transportation.
"Obviously, the first priority in the meeting is to put together a short-term plan so vehicles can travel over the bridge," Tarr said yesterday. He, state Rep. Ann-Margaret Ferrante, city officials and business owners have all decried the fact that the DOT never notified the city or anyone else of the changes, which were drawn from a December bridge inspection. Instead, the DOT simply posted the new limits on a sign at the bridge, and a city fire crew finally noticed the changes last week.
Tarr noted that the bridge has been a sporadic problem for 20 or 30 years, adding that it is one of the most frequently opened and closed drawbridges on the coast.
Tarr said it would be costly, and there are constraints to the idea, but it is worth exploring the idea of a higher bridge that could open less frequently. But for now, he was focused on getting heavier vehicles over the bridge.
"In my option, priority No. 1 is developing that plan," he said.
Kirk, for her part, said the meeting with Davey -- slated for March 24 -- is a good step, but she did not want to play the waiting game.
"It doesn't have the urgency I would have hoped," she said. "I'm not waiting around for a meeting; we have to work this hour by hour."
The mayor said, however, that she has no plans to boost funding and step up staffing at the West Gloucester or Magnolia fire stations. Facing a daily estimated cost of $4,500 in additional staffers, as compiled by fire Chief Eric Smith, until all vehicles can traverse the bridge safely, the city is seeking alternate options, she said.
The city's first step toward restoring more timely ambulance service to West Gloucester and Magnolia came earlier Wednesday with the temporary addition of a smaller, lighter and older ambulance fire officials had held in storage.
"It's not state-of-the-art (compared to current ambulances), but it is certainty capable of responding to medical emergencies," Kirk said.
Another move, she said, would be to see if the bridge tender can halt all traffic on the bridge before fire engines arrive, allowing them to cross one at a time with no other vehicle on the span, thus easing the weight.
In the summer, when the Cut Bridge is regularly raised and lowered for boat traffic, firefighters notify the bridge tender, who -- if the bridge is up -- can promptly put it down, with traffic stopped with the help of the red flashing traffic lights, she said.
"We think that's a really good solution ... but it's going to require some cooperation from the state," she said. "We're really trying to get down to a very specific action plan."
She reiterated that emergency response times should not be drastically different, as West Gloucester is served by its own station on Concord Street. But the differences would grow if a fire in Magnolia, for instance, required a multiple-truck or ladder response from Central Station.
Kirk said she accepts that the bridge is in "a deteriorated state," while Smith also said the city did not want to push their luck with the bridge as they do realize it is older and deteriorating.
As for the mayor's denial of boosting staffing for West Gloucester, Smith said he also recognized the fiscal impact.
"We're deep into the budget season. Obviously, the city is struggling to fund all of the overtime for Bay View," Smith said.
As Kirk has said, the bridge problem sets the city back from a public safety standpoint, Smith noted.
"The cost to take the steps I feel are appropriate are costly," Smith said. "The city just doesn't have the money to jump into that right now."
He said the city still does not know how long the Blynman Bridge repair project will take, meaning there is no way of telling how much additional staff at West Gloucester could cost.
"It's a difficult situation nobody is happy about," Smith said.
Ferrante, who with Tarr, has also been vocal about the lack of communication from the DOT, said the first priority is making sure vehicles are able to get over the Blynman Canal.
The DOT, meanwhile, said it's primary focus is getting the bridge fixed.
Mass. DOT spokesman Michael Verseckes said that's the step that would most clearly result in lifting the weight restrictions.
"At some point, the bridge will need to be replaced," he wrote in an email to the Times. "However, to do so requires design, funding, right of way, permitting and coordination with the marine uses of the channel as well."
Kirk said she was anxious to get an answer on the city's evolving plans.
"The investment has to be made to have it repaired," she said.
James Niedzinski can be reached at 978-675-2708 or at [email protected].
Copyright 2014 - Gloucester Daily Times, Mass.
