Temporary Saugus River bridge creates detours; changes vex businesses

LYNN ?Traffic problems triggered by the temporary bridge spanning the Saugus River will be ironed out, said state Sen. Thomas M. McGee, with a plan satisfying Western Avenue business owners? access needs and state engineers? safety concerns.?The priorities are driver safety and business access,” McGee said.But before planning can be completed, state engineers need to iron out problems with the temporary span that left its drawbridge stuck in the raised position Tuesday for the second time in five months.The span required repairs in June during a testing phase and Tuesday?s breakdown occurred at 3 p.m. as rush hour traffic began building on Western Avenue and Route 107. Transportation Department spokeswoman Sara Lavoie reported the bridge reopened shortly after 4:30 p.m.?We will be examining what went wrong,” Lavoie said in an emailed statement.McGee, leader of Lynn?s legislative delegation, spent time last Saturday and on Tuesday along Western Avenue where traffic funnels from four lanes to two lanes – one into Saugus and another into Lynn – over the drawbridge erected by contractors next to the Belden Bly Bridge.McGee said state officials overseeing the bridge project are aware of business owners? concerns.?They recognize there is an impact and that there have to be changes,” he said.The state is three years away from picking a contractor to build a new Belden Bly Bridge and the temporary bridge is designed to raise and lower to allow boat traffic to pass beneath it along the river.Western Avenue business owners last week said they did not receive notice about lane changes before state officials set up signs warning drivers the changes would be made on Nov. 9. Stoneham Boat Center owners Tim and Eileen Horgan said traffic changes necessitated by the temporary bridge?s opening left customers without a way to get into the boatyard.?They blocked our driveway with jersey barriers so that traffic coming from Saugus cannot take a left in our driveway,” Eileen Horgan wrote in an electronic mail.Orange barrels on Monday marked driveways in front of Stoneham Boatyard and neighboring businesses, but McGee said traffic improvement planning along Western Avenue at the Saugus River is not finished.McGee said any traffic plan ensuring access to Stoneham Boat and six other businesses must ensure traffic travels safely off the temporary bridge and allows drivers to enter the business parking lots.That planning, he said, must take into consideration the tractor trailer traffic using Stoneham Boat?s 1147 Western Ave. driveway.