This puts it about 2 or 3 miles west of downtown Lowell. It was built in as a temporary bridge by the Army Corps of Engineers, with a planned lifetime of only 5 years. But now 40 years have passed and the bridge is still there, carrying 27, vehicles every day, or 10 million per year. Today, as trucks drive over the bridge, banging metal sounds like an out-of-tune marching band.
Its supporting substructure is showing signs of deterioration. It is nearing the end of its useful service life. MassDOT began studying how to replace the Rourke Bridge ten years ago, with a Feasibility Analysis of the bridge and surrounding streets.
The study looked at replacing the bridge with a permanent structure, and whether the existing location is the most suitable. It developed a series of recommendations to improve mobility for residents, businesses and visitors.
The process will include design, environmental permitting, and construction. It will have four lanes of vehicular traffic, bike lanes, walkways, and seating overlooking the river. It should be complete by Following are slides from a public hearing about the new bridge design. I urge you to give them a look, they are quite impressive. Click here… Presentation slides as PDF. And here is a Youtube video recording of that public hearing. It can be a little dry but again, the people doing the design really seem to be firing on all cylinders.
I can only dream of Manchester having bridges across the Merrimack that may one day be as functional and gorgeous as the new Rourke Bridge design. For riders in other places, a bicycle can enable access to education, healthcare, jobs, commerce and industry. A group called World Bicycle Relief makes extremely tough bicycles gauge spokes, pound steel frame, half-inch BMX chain aimed at users in places with limited infrastructure, like Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
