Redesigning convoluted Bristol intersection: Brace for 2.5 years of road work
The tangled intersection of Route 69 and Route 72 in Bristol is in for a $7.5 million reconstruction, but motorists will need patience: Road work is expected to last until November of 2025.
Crews with cement mixers, dump trucks and bulldozers last week began work at the busy West End crossing, which handles more than 15,000 vehicles a day — often with delays that can back up more than a block.
The merger of two heavily used state roads is actually a pair of three-way intersections barely 100 feet apart, and motorists know the area for backups, fenderbenders and a confusing hodgepodge of restricted lanes, crosswalks and tightly spaced traffic lights.
“That intersection is a nightmare. It’s good they’re doing something, and hopefully it won’t be such an inconvenience,” said Dan Gallant, who has watched 30 years of traffic jams from South Side Meat Market, the West Street store he co-owns.
About a decade after it started initial planning, the state transportation department is beginning heavy construction to completely reshape the traffic flow there. Engineers say the new design will be safer for pedestrians and drivers alike, as well as less confusing and more efficient.
The merger of Route 69 and Route 72 is the hub of traffic in the West End, especially at the morning and evening rush hours. Local motorists use the two state roadways as the chief east-west and north-south routes in that part of the city, and commuters from Burlington, Wolcott, Plainville, Plymouth and beyond use them, too.
Route 69, known locally as West Street, runs through the West End in a fairly straight line, but Route 72 is a different matter. It’s known as School Street where it curves up from the south to cross Route 69; the roadway then becomes Divinity Street and goes straight east about 100 feet farther. But there, Divinity narrows and continues straight, while Route 72 becomes Park Street and curves to the north.
The result is poor sight lines for drivers and a perplexing array of arrows and street signs, with a wide section of pavement where the turning directions can seem unclear, especially amidst heavy traffic. The traffic lights cause bottlenecks, cyclists find conditions unappealing and potentially unsafe.
West End businesses and residents told the city in 2014 that straightening out the intersection would help improve the whole area, and the state DOT came up with a way to reconfigure side streets that will allow for a single intersection with fewer bends and far simpler lane markings.
Mayor Jeff Caggiano has said the project is important to downtown because Route 72 is a key gateway for traffic coming from the west.
Part of Route 69 will be moved northward to reduce the curve at Park Street, and contractors will add left-turn lanes to both approaches of Route 72. Divinity will end where it meets Landry Street, and traffic between Route 72 and Divinity will use a new, short connector being built as an extension of Pratt Street.
The DOT has bought several old homes that will be demolished, and has already razed the old Wah Lung restaurant building on West Street. Additional municipal parking is planned on that property.
The DOT and the city said wider shoulders will improve cyclist safety, clearer crosswalk will aid pedestrians, and the better layout of traffic lanes will enable tractor trailers to make all turns.
Plymouth-based Richards Corp. won the construction contract last fall with a bid of $7,533,502. Four other contractors submitted price quotes, which ranged from $7,994,757 to $8,249,051.
Bristol police are enforcing alternating one-way traffic weekdays from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., and various temporary closings or brief detours may be necessary during the peak of construction. Richards Corp. anticipates finishing the project by Nov. 30, 2025.
