BEVERLY, MA — Calling the state of Beverly “strong and resilient,” Beverly Mayor Mike Cahill highlighted steps the city had taken to mitigate climate change, safeguard against the next recession, pressure Varian to clean up decades-old industrial site contamination and outlined a plan to replace the deficient Hall-Whitaker and Kernwood drawbridge “as soon as humanly possible” during this State of the City address on Monday night.
“Together as a community we are committed to Beverly today and to Beverly’s future,” he said. “The state of Beverly is optimistic, determined and engaged. And committed to achieving positive results day in, day out, and year in and year out.”
Cahill highlighted “three critical issues” for the immediate future — holding Varian accountable for what he called a “shameful chapter” of pollution in the city, a plan to design a temporary Hall-Whitaker Bridge that will pave the way for the simultaneous replacement of both the closed Hall-Whitaker Bridge and the deficient Kernwood Bridge and the next stages of the Brimble Avenue overpass project.
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“We will continue to dedicate ourselves to holding Varian accountable, finally, to clean up their mess, from 60 and 70 years ago,” Cahill said, “that long after they dumped dangerous chlorinated solvents in the ground, to finally close the shameful chapter and provide the residents and neighborhood schools and businesses the peace of mind they’ve long deserved.”
When the state abruptly shut down the Hall-Whitaker Bridge last June, the Massachusetts Department of Transportation said permitting and designing could result in 13 years of ongoing bridge work between that bridge and the structurally deficient Kernwood.
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Cahill said on Monday that a 25 percent design of the temporary Hall-Whitaker Bridge was expected by the “end of this month” and that will trigger the temporary bridge project permitting to begin before he outlined the plan to dismantle and reconstruct permanent replacements for both bridges at the same time.
Once the new bridges are open to traffic, he said, the temporary bridge will be removed. While Cahill did not prescribe an updated target date to finish this process, he did say Beverly city and statewide elected officials “will continue pushing as hard as we can to move this project forward.”
“We are determined to beat timelines whenever possible and restore these services to our neighbors and our community as soon as humanly possible,” he said.
He said the Brimble Avenue overpass and interchange project — often referred to as Phase 2 — will be in further design over the next year “as we move from conceptual to a further fleshed-out design.”
“In the meantime, we continue to work with state transportation and economic development officials to prepare this project for the long-sought state and federal funding support to build it,” he said.
Cahill noted the city’s commitment to solar panels, electric vehicle charging stations and net-zero carbon building renovations that he said are necessary to “stop burning oil and gas” and that are part of the investments that are “helping Beverly evolve into a sustainable, 21-century city.”
“We owe our children and grandchildren an earth that continues to support their lives in the way that it has ours,” he said. “The threat of sea-level rise, increasing extreme weather events, a permanent rise in global temperatures and the upheaval this will all bring demand that we act now and with the level of urgency that has long been needed.”
He said the commitment to building cash reserves to $18.2 million will “carry us through the next recession” and credited ongoing infrastructure improvements, recent zoning changes and forthcoming design standards for making an “evermore walkable, bikeable, and livable Beverly.”
“Beverly is a truly special place to call home and one I know we are all truly grateful to call ours,” he concluded.
(Scott Souza is a Patch field editor covering Beverly, Danvers, Marblehead, Peabody, Salem and Swampscott. He can be reached at [email protected]. Twitter: @Scott_Souza.)
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