Lynn bridge will no longer be pink

LYNN – Observant commuters might notice that a small portion of the Washington Street bridge is no longer pink and soon none of it will be.”They will hopefully start power washing tomorrow and then paint,” Community Development Director James Marsh said Tuesday.The bridge has not been painted since the mid 1990s when it was colored pink. The story, as Marsh understands it, is the original color was supposed to be brick red, to match the surrounding brick buildings but that didn’t work out.”That’s why we went down and painted this time to test the color,” Marsh said.Marsh said he knows the color scheme, which is black with gray accents, won’t please everyone but it was the one everyone he spoke with chose. Marsh said he reached out Mayor Judith Flanagan Kennedy, Ward 5 Councilor Brendan Crighton, Lynn Museum Director Kate Luchini and the downtown residents for opinions on color schemes.”I tried to get as much input about the colors as possible and they all came back with this historic pallet,” he said. “If we keep it dark, when it does get dirty the color will minimize the appearance and the wear and tear.”The Washington Street Bridge is the first of three, possibly four overpasses scheduled to be painted.”The second will be either Central or Market street then the other and hopefully we’ll add Silsbee Street as well,” Marsh said.He also hopes the new color scheme will be a better backdrop for some advertising.”Maybe not on the bridge itself but maybe underneath, like the public art photos,” Marsh said. “We can tie it into the Cultural District and the branding of the downtown.”The project is being funded by the MBTA. Marsh said the last time the city paid for the project out of a Community Development Block Grant.”This time the MBTA is picking up the tab at (Kennedy’s) behest,” he said. “We actually could have painted last year but we wanted to get it right so we took out time with the color scheme.”Chris Stevens can be reached at [email protected].