Public Works Director Thomas Martens expects re-routing Doane Road would be less expensive than replacing the bridge where the road intersects with Route 9.
WARE – With support from the selectmen, Public Works Director Thomas J. Martens is proceeding with plans to reroute a small section of Doane Road so it may intersect with Route 9 without need of the Doane Road Bridge.
“I am nearly certain it would be much cheaper than the bridge,” Martens told the selectmen during a discussion of this issue Tuesday.
The bridge was closed in July 2009 after engineers working for the state found structural deficiencies in its supporting beams.
The bridge connected Doane Road with Route 9, and, since it has been out of use, people living on Doane Road have had to travel well out of their way.
Initial estimates for rebuilding a bridge at this location came in at about $154,000 but town officials have said that those figures have gone up and they would only provide for a temporary bridge.
Martens told the selectmen Tuesday that the replacement bridge being considered would be considered a temporary bridge and it would be very complicated to deal with the state officials who would have a say in such a project.
“It is tied up in a lot of bureaucracy,” Martens said.
While not abandoning the process of replacing the Doane Road Bridge, Martens said he is working on preliminary planning for re-routing Doane Road so that it could intersect with Route 9 slightly closer to the center of Ware without the need for a bridge.
Martens said this could be looked at as a permanent solution.
Acquiring small portions of land for the re-routing would have to be dealt with to proceed with that alternative.
Martens does not have a cost estimate at this point but said he would continue investigating the details.
The Board of Selectmen encouraged Martens to proceed with preparing cost estimates for the re-routing plan.
“There is still a lot of research that needs to be done before we can know if this is the best way to go,” Selectmen Chairman William R. Braman said.
Martens and Braman said that the potential costs of acquiring land for a new road bed are likely to be important factors in whether this alternative is less expensive than replacing the bridge.