NoHo Bridge Closure – Disaster Averted

Earlier today the home page of Channel 5's website carried a story about a Massachusetts bridge closure in prominent position. It's since been buried on the site. The story with the headline "Mass. Bridge Closed After Minn. Tragedy" evoked imagery of any of those bridges we reported on earlier, I-91 closures as it crisscrosses the Connecticut river, or some span over hills on Rt. 2, or even more local like the length that leads over the Boston Harbor to Long Island. Instead it's a tiny little bridge on Clement Street over the Mill River in Northampton, Mass.

The bridge, first built in the 1890s, is the first in Massachusetts to be ordered closed since the Aug. 1 Minneapolis bridge collapse that killed at least nine people.

Okay, so they're checking bridges to guage the structural integrity and make sure that they can handle the traffic that crosses each day. The story still seems sensationally dire for Western Mass residents.

Commuters in Northampton will have to find an alternative to the Clement Street Bridge.

Acting on advice from state highway officials, the city blocked off the single-lane span over the Mill River Friday. The bridge will be closed until repairs are complete, which could take up to a year.

That's a one lane span over a tiny little river in Western Mass. We're so happy the AP had us imagining state-wide traffic snarls – even if just for a moment.

Map and satellite image from Google Maps.