The Middle Street Bridge Took Two Towns and Eight Years to Reopen

Cars are crossing the Upper Artichoke Reservoir on Middle Street again. The bridge on the West Newbury and Newburyport line closed to vehicles in 2018. It soft-opened after a final inspection on September 22, 2026, and officials from both communities cut the ribbon on October 9 at 11 a.m.

Two municipalities are responsible for it, it spans water both of them drink, and it was paid for out of two budgets and several grant programs. Even the stone from the old bridge was divided between the two towns afterward.

A bridge with two names over one reservoir

West Newbury calls it the Plummer Spring Road Bridge. Newburyport calls it the Middle Street Bridge. On the map, it sits right where Plummer Spring Road turns into Middle Street. The water below is the Upper Artichoke Reservoir, the drinking water supply for both communities, according to The Town Common.

The bridge straddles the border, so both municipalities share a legal obligation to maintain and repair it, as a CNHI report on the reopening explains. The old structure was carried by a granite arch built in the late 19th century. The clear span was about 14 feet and the deck was about 24 feet wide. In 2018 a spandrel wall failed, and the City of Newburyport's project page describes the result as a partial collapse.

Sources disagree on exactly when it closed. Newburyport's first closure notice set the closure for May 23, 2018, while the city's later reconstruction page says July 2018. Either way, the closure notice kept pedestrian and bicycle access open "at this time." It sent cars around by way of Storey Avenue and Route 113. For anyone driving between the two ends of Middle Street, that detour was the route for the next eight years.

Where the eight years went

CNHI reports that the push to fund a rebuild went on for six years. Construction started in spring 2025, about a year and a half before the final inspection.

The project cost about $3.66 million, drawn mostly from state and federal programs. Each town brought its own grants, and the city's project page states the split simply: "Both communities are sharing the total costs 50/50." According to CNHI, the project went out to bid the month after the Newburyport City Council approved that equal-share agreement.

The people involved describe it the same way. West Newbury Town Manager Sean Fitzgerald told CNHI the bridge "is really a success story in terms of intermunicipal collaboration and cooperation." In the towns' joint statement, quoted by The Town Common, he said he "was fortunate to inherit a fully funded and substantially completed project" and credited former Town Manager Angus Jennings, "whose hard work over many years helped make this project a reality." Both communities also recognized Sen. Bruce Tarr, state Rep. Dawne Shand, and state Rep. Adrianne Ramos for their advocacy, according to CNHI.

Even the last few weeks followed the contract calendar. The contract completion date was November 2026. The final holdup was a specialized guardrail, and Fitzgerald told CNHI the crews had hoped to finish "a little sooner."

What you are driving over now

The replacement is a different bridge, not a repaired version of the old one. The city's project page says that because of how the old bridge collapsed and what it was built from, none of the original structure could be reused in the new one.

• Span: about 45 feet, compared with a clear span of roughly 14 feet under the old granite arch
• Width: 32.5 feet out-to-out, compared with about 24 feet
• Structure: prestressed concrete box beams with a cast-in-place concrete deck, on integral abutments set on H-piles
• Pedestrians: a new sidewalk on the south side
• Safety: standardized bridge rails, precast guardrail transitions, a wider roadway, and improved alignment

The everyday change is the end of the Storey Avenue and Route 113 detour for trips between the two halves of Middle Street. Fitzgerald frames the bigger value as emergency access. He acknowledged to CNHI that many residents stick to the main thoroughfares, but called the bridge a strategic safety asset:

"It strengthens a lot of the interconnection between Newburyport and West Newbury, and it certainly helps our first responders and our residents just have an area where they can go in the event that there is an emergency. Having redundant arterial roadways to and through the community is always critical in terms of public safety."

Newburyport Mayor Sean Reardon said in the joint statement that the project "improves safety, strengthens connectivity, and represents a lasting investment in our residents and our region."

The old bridge's granite ended up at Burnham Field

The granite couldn't go back into the new bridge, so it went to both towns. The Town Common reports that West Newbury and Newburyport are each receiving reclaimed granite from the old bridge for other projects. One of the first was the wall at West Newbury's pickleball courts.

Those two courts sit next to Action Cove Playground at Burnham Field, and officials cut the ribbon on July 27. The CNHI account of the opening describes Jennings unveiling a granite pillar outside the fence. Its plaque, designed and fabricated by resident Marcia Shoemaker, reads "Reclaimed Granite from the Middle Street Bridge." The plaque reproduces a photo of the Lower Artichoke River Dam from the 1890s and is dedicated by the Select Board and Parks and Recreation Commission in 2026. A wall along one side of the courts uses the same stone.

Jennings called the courts "a labor of love for the last couple years." The project was funded through the Community Preservation Act and came in at $158,300, under the original estimate. Town Meeting later approved $25,000 for a stone path, bringing the total to about $180,000. Woburn-based Heimlich Landscaping and Construction oversaw the work.

The court rules reflect the same shared-use arrangement. Hours run from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. or sunset. Residents can reserve time in 30-minute blocks, up to 90 minutes, through a QR code on the town website. Nonresidents can play without a reservation but have to give up the court when a resident with a reservation arrives. Glass containers, bikes, skateboards, and rollerblades aren't allowed. The courts are about 450 feet from the nearest home and enclosed by an acoustic fence. That fence is 2 feet higher on the side facing the wetlands, which keeps balls and players out of the woods.

The town's other bridge has its own schedule this week

West Newbury's river crossing to Haverhill runs on a schedule set outside the town this week. The Massachusetts Department of Transportation has announced that it will run single-lane alternating traffic on the Rocks Village Bridge from Tuesday, October 13, through Friday, October 16, between 9 a.m. and 2 p.m. each day. Intermittent full closures of about 10 to 15 minutes each are expected so crews can carry out inspections. The town's posted advisory says signage and police details will be in place, access to local businesses, homes, and emergency services will be maintained, and the schedule may change in bad weather. According to the advisory, the inspection work won't change any of the bridge's architectural, structural, or historic features.

The week ends with the 37th Apple Harvest Run on Sunday, October 18, at 15 Bachelor Street. The 1-mile fun run starts at 11 a.m., and the 5K and 5-mile races start together at 11:30 a.m. The event raises money for the Page School. Online registration closes Friday, October 16, at 7 p.m. Bib pickup is Saturday, October 17, at the Town Annex, 381 Main Street, and at the Page School pasta dinner. For anyone coming from the Newburyport side of the reservoir, Middle Street is once again a way to get there.

Shared infrastructure like the Middle Street Bridge affects what a West Newbury home is worth more than any single listing photo, and following those details is part of how Kevin Fruh prices property on both sides of the Artichoke. If you'd like to see how this fall's changes fit into your home's value, request your complimentary home valuation.