By Stephanie Bergman
Staff Writer
—
Commuter rail riders planing to travel from Gloucester, West Gloucester and Rockport this weekend should to allow extra time to get to their destinations, since construction on the Manchester drawbridge will create delays of up to a half hour.
According to the Massachusetts Bay Commuter Rail, the repairs will occur this weekend and next weekend only, with no delays expected during the week.
Two different systems for busing passengers have been set up, with Manchester passengers being bused to and from Beverly Farms and people traveling to and from stops father along the line taking a different bus to or from Beverly station.
"This bridge work reflects MBCR and the MBTA's commitment to provide passengers with enhanced service reliability and is an important part of our overall plan to continually maintain and improve railroad system infrastructure," MBCR said in a statement.
The MBCR has been doing construction on several bridges along the Rockport line in the past few months, including work on the Saugus drawbridge that interrupted and delayed weekend service from the end of February until April 15.
Local riders are also awaiting repairs to the Annisquam River drawbridge in Gloucester, which has been under a speed limit of 10 miles per hour since the beginning of the year.
Repairs to the Annisquam drawbridge are estimated to cost $42 million and take 17 months of work to build. Right now, plans on how to replace the bridge are 30 percent complete, with full plans expected in September.
The project will go to bid after the plans are finished, and construction could begin as early as spring 2013.
Stephanie Bergman can be reached at 978-283-7000, x3451, or at sbergman@gloucestertimes.com.
