Beverly Hall-Whitaker Bridge Sidewalk Work Begins Tuesday

BEVERLY, MA — The Beverly Hall-Whitaker Drawbridge — which was closed to traffic in June 2022 but which has remained open to pedestrian traffic since — will be closed to foot traffic on one side as well in alternating sidewalk closures beginning on Tuesday.

The state Department of Transportation said the bridge, which carries Bridge Street over the Bass River, will be closed to pedestrians to support bridge and railing repair work.

MassDOT said the closures will begin on the northerly side on Tuesday and will remain in place until repairs are complete. Once repairs on that side are complete, the southerly side will be closed for repairs as well.

No timeline was provided for the completion of repairs on both sides of the bridge.

The drawbridge is currently closed to vehicular traffic and will remain closed.

A MassDOT public forum scheduled for Nov. 14 to update the community on a temporary replacement of the bridge that would be open to vehicular traffic was postponed with no make-up date yet announced.

Appropriate signage and pavement markings will be in place to guide users through the work area.

The repair work is being completed as part of an ongoing $7.7 million District-Wide Drawbridge Operations and Repair contract.

(Scott Souza is a Patch field editor covering Beverly, Danvers, Marblehead, Peabody, Salem and Swampscott. He can be reached at Scott.Souza@Patch.com. X/Twitter: @Scott_Souza.)