FALL RIVER — Now that the Route 79 expressway reconstruction project has officially broken ground, one of the first things to be broken will be the Route 79 expressway itself, with the highway scheduled to be closed for good sometime in February.

At a public meeting held Wednesday evening via Zoom, representatives from the Massachusetts Department of Transportation, the construction team and the city laid out each stage of the estimated four-year plan for transforming the waterfront highway into a pedestrian-friendly urban boulevard. The final result will feature wider sidewalks and shared-use paths, and three new direct connections to the waterfront.

One of the project's earliest stages will permanently close the Western Expressway — the mile-plus of Route 79 highway lanes that connect the Braga Bridge and the Veterans Memorial Bridge. According to MassDOT and Design Manager Jonathan Kapust of engineering company HNTB, that stretch of road will close forever as early as next month.

Kapust said once that expressway is closed, drivers will instead have to flow onto Davol Street — making the early phase and the project’s final end design “very similar.”

Housing on the way:A developer has plans to bring 100 apartments to this Fall River mill building

First steps in the process

The project’s first stage is currently under way, and involves temporarily widening Davol Street at key locations to accommodate the extra traffic. It also involves widening and repaving the Cory Street U-turn to create a north-to-south U-turn. This stage is scheduled to take about three weeks.

After that, the demolition of the expressway begins.

The project will be constructed in four major stages. Kapust said the plan calls for minimal detours, no major road closures, and a reduced need to establish new traffic patterns — which he indicated means less confusion for regular commuters and people who live in the area.

All the construction work should be substantially complete by August 2026, with everything done by that October.

Hey big spender:Who has the biggest tax bill in Fall River? Counting down the top 10 property taxpayers

Removing barriers to the waterfront

Kapust noted that the project is necessary because its current design is highly flawed — he said the four lanes of high-speed road act as a physical and visual barrier that keeps the city and its waterfront separate, and have an enormous footprint that limits development in the area.

The project's intent, he said, is to create a flatter, ground-level roadway that links the city and the waterfront with more direct routes and easier access. When complete, Turner, Hathaway and Brightman streets will all have new connections bringing their neighborhoods to the waterfront.

Cutting the highway back to a boulevard is also expected to open up about 19 acres of developable land, including green space. MassDOT Project Manager Valerie Kilduff said some of that land will feature “park-like settings, with art happening,” while city Director of Engineering and Planning Dan Aguiar said the green space would feature “substantial landscaping.”

State Sen. Michael Rodrigues, chairman of the Senate Committee on Ways and Means, has said the acreage that will come from the massive project is owned by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

The $135 million highway project is largely funded by the state and federal government. A portion is being paid for with city funds, which Aguiar said involved paying for infrastructure connected with the city’s combined sewer overflow project.

More information on the project is available at https://www.mass.gov/route-79-davol-street-corridor-improvements, and questions can be directed by email to Route79DavolSt@dot.state.ma.us.

Improving physical and visual access

Fall River has been in a decadeslong process of tearing down and reducing roads that block the waterfront from the heart of the city.

The expressway originally opened in 1976, the culmination of a project more than 10 years in the making. According to a Providence Journal article at the time, its opening was met with "speeches which stressed the value of the new roadway in opening the city’s waterfront area to more industrial, commercial and recreational development;” its construction also displaced businesses and residents in the North End.

The highway connected Route 24 to the Braga Bridge via a complicated series of double-deck elevated ramps. Those rusting “spaghetti ramps” were torn down in the 2010s and replaced with the current system of concrete ramps and walls, improving visual access to the waterfront if not physical access.

For business owners in the area like Chris Holden of Duke’s Bakery in Commonwealth Landing, the end results will be worth whatever headaches the next four years of construction causes. For one thing, people driving past on either side of Davol Street will be able to spot her signage.

“When it’s over and done with, it’ll be a little easier for people to see us,” Holden said. “If they go over 79, especially during the summer, the trees block the signs on the building. So that money that we paid up there is great, but only if they are traveling [south] on Davol Street.”

Dan Medeiros can be reached at dmedeiros@heraldnews.com. Support local journalism by purchasing a digital or print subscription to The Herald News today.

This article originally appeared on The Herald News: MassDOT: Fall River's Route 79 expressway closing in February