Crumbling Echo Bridge gets quick fix

Bowing to public pressure, the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority will reopen Echo Bridge in Newton Monday with temporary railings to prevent people from falling off the 60-foot-high structure.

The temporary 4-foot high wooden snow fence will remain there until up to $1 million can be raised for permanent railings.

The state agency, which owns the 129-year-old arched stone bridge, had planned to close the walkway due to safety concerns over the cast-iron handrails, which are cracked, rusted, or missing. While it will be closed over the weekend, the pedestrian bridge will reopen next week.

''It's still a temporary fix, but at least it will allow pedestrian access," said Ria Convery, spokeswoman for the MWRA. ''It's not going to look very nice, but you'll at least be able to look over it."

She said the authority decided to keep the bridge open because of pressure from preservationists and state Representative Ruth B. Balser, a Newton Democrat.

Local officials now plan to seek a compromise that would involve raising funds locally through the Community Preservation Act, with the hope that the state would match the money.

Because it is on the National Register of Historic Places, the iron for the railings would have to be recast exactly as it was when the bridge was built in 1877.

''We think it's the perfect interim solution," said Brian Yates, president of the Friends of Hemlock Gorge.

The bridge is part of the 23-acre Hemlock Gorge Reservation near Route 9, touching Newton, Needham, and Wellesley.