City of Lawrence to partially reopen Central Bridge Thursday after fire spurs road closures

Starting Thursday morning the city of Lawrence plans to partially reopen its central bridge to alleviate traffic jams after its sudden closure following a fire.

“It is deeply significant, it is one of the main thoroughfares throughout the city in an already congested city,” said Chief Maurice Aguiler of the Lawrence Police Department.

Traffic has been a nightmare in Lawrence these last couple days after the bridge was forced to close from a massive fire.

The fire broke out under the bridge around 2 AM Tuesday, and you could see the flames extending all the way up to where cars usually pass through.

“We do believe that there were some people that were homeless underneath there at the time, again we spoke to two of the individuals, we don’t think it’s anything malicious at this time,” said Chief Patrick Delaney of the Lawrence Fire Department. “We just want to do our due diligence and make sure we get the right cause.”

You could see evidence of encampments under the bridge as the cleanup continues, and now MassDOT is working with the city to make sure the bridge is safe enough to reopen.

“If you’re stuck in traffic, please be patient, we’re really trying hard right now to get some traffic management plan,” said Chief Aguiler.

City leaders say right now they plan to partially reopen the bridge to two lanes, one in each direction, starting Thursday.

“Definitely we are working hard to have the bridge open completely, but we are going to wait until we have more information and also different design options to make sure the bridge is safe and secure before we fully open the bridge,” said Jeovanny Rodriguez, interim mayor of Lawrence.

The city is already congested during rush hour with 80,000 vehicles registered in the city of Lawrence, so until the central bridge can fully reopen, city leaders say, try to avoid the area.

“If you utilize the highways, I think you’ll have a better chance of trying to get through especially during those heavy traffic hours,” said Chief Aguiler.

The cause of the fire is still under investigation.

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