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Brookline has $200,000 grant for upper Grassy Brook Road culvert but faces a large funding gap
Summary
Highway Supervisor E. Mark Bills said a hydraulic study recommends a 20-foot span bridge; the Town received a $200,000 structure grant but preliminary cost estimates are at least $500,000, leaving a significant shortfall the board must address.
E. Mark Bills, Brookline’s highway supervisor and a Selectboard member, told the board the hydraulic study for the failing culvert on upper Grassy Brook Road calls for a 20-foot span, 6-foot-high structure — likely a bridge — to replace the existing rusting culvert. The Town received a $200,000 Structure Grant with a two-year completion window (by Oct. 1, 2027), and an $18,000 engineering grant to develop design and cost estimates.
EMB warned the grant will not cover expected costs: preliminary estimates for the new bridge, temporary traffic diversions and related work are at least $500,000. He said the next step is an RFP to select an engineer, and the Selectboard could ask voters for an estimated additional $300,000 or borrow funds and repay over time. EMB also named another site — a narrow bridge north of Papoose Lane — where undermining after a beaver-dam collapse may require future work.
