Jan. 28, 2026 – Drivers: it’s time to learn your detours. The Town of Ayer plans to start the West Main Street bridge replacement in mid-March.
The Department of Public Works led a 30-minute hybrid presentation from Ayer Town Hall on Wednesday night. About 30 people attended in-person and on Zoom, including town employees and consultants.
Coordinating traffic and utilities are the two biggest challenges with this project, the DPW said.
There are four stages of work and the contract schedule is just over 2 years, impacting traffic mostly during the Spring and Fall. They called this a very conservative schedule.
Built in the 1800s, the stone bridge runs along West Main Street and passes over the Nonacoicus Brook. The new bridge will have a bigger span and we will write more about this in a future article.
Background: In 2018, Ayer Town Meeting appropriated $1.2 million for the project and the town had also received a $500,000 grant from the MassDOT Small Bridge Program. Unfortunately, in October 2020, the town put the project out to bid, only to have the low bid come back too high at $2.5 million (Source: March 15, 2022 Select Board meeting minutes).
The DPW went back to Annual Town Meeting again in 2023. This time, voters approved a $3 million debt exclusion to help finance the project (source: 2023 Annual Town Meeting web page).
If you missed Wednesday’s meeting, the takeaway was learn your detours around Ayer. Drivers can travel down West Main Street, but there will be delays. They will be doing alternate lane road work.
Two Detours for Drivers Traveling Through Town: The DPW suggested drivers use Barnum Road/Jackson Road or Bishop Road/MacPherson Road (though the latter route has occasional flooding).
For Nearby Residents: Union Street at West Main Street will be closed. Shirley Street and Union Street residents will have to use Mechanic Street to get onto West Main Street.
Pedestrians will also have to change their route.
Emergency vehicles will still be able to use West Main Street.
Bookmark this web page
Here is the Town of Ayer’s web page on the West Main Street bridge replacement project. At the bottom of the page, you will find a link to the construction plans and the Jan. 28th presentation, as of Feb. 1st.
Top image: We downloaded the photograph from the Town of Ayer’s website. The photograph was part of the DPW’s presentation at the Annual Town Meeting in 2023.