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12/29/2021
The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) announced last week that commuter-rail service over the Gloucester Drawbridge on the Rockport Line is expected to be restored by May 2022.
Construction is progressing on the $100 million drawbridge replacement project. The bridge carries the Rockport Line over the Annisquam River. Work left to be completed includes removing loose rock from the ledges alongside the Route 128 bridge tracks and cyclical maintenance operations.
The disruption in service has allowed the agency to accelerate work on aspects of the project that would have required service outages later in 2022, MBTA officials said in a press release. More projects were completed at the same time, helping to improve efficiency.
Those projects included:• replacement of more than 11,000 treated wood ties with plastic ties containing no preservative chemicals;• removal of 11 150-year-old, stacked-stone box culverts, which were replaced with concrete pipe;• renewal of switches and special trackwork beyond Poole’s Lane;• deep cleaning and repainting of the Gloucester and Rockport stations;• installation of a new interlocking between Gloucester Station and the drawbridge; and• replacement of a grade crossing at Maple Street in Gloucester.