State transportation officials are set to provide an update next Tuesday to Mattapan residents on a bridge replacement effort and several other projects in the area. The Nov. 22 meeting, at 6 p.m. in the auditorium of the Mildred Ave. School, will cover the Morton St. bridge replacement; a roadway safety audit that includes Morton Street, Harvard Street, and Blue Hill Avenue; a planning study on the Casey Overpass at Forest Hills; and information on job training opportunities by Massachusetts Department of Transportation staffers.

The Morton Street bridge project is part of the state’s Accelerated Bridge Program, a plan in which bridge sections are built off site and then quickly installed in place. The plan for Morton Street originally included shutting down the bridge for ten days, but the neighborhood balked, bringing it behind schedule.
Mattapan community members also expect to receive an update on the roadway safety audit, and find out where the $750,000, which lawmakers appropriated for fixing the dangerous Morton Street and Blue Hill Avenue intersection, will go.

The future of the Casey Overpass has long been in the works. Located next to the Forest Hills MBTA Station in Jamaica Plain, the overpass has been called structurally deficient. State Rep. Russell Holmes said Mattapan residents should receive an update on the overpass because many use it, and because whatever happens there will have a ripple effect in Mattapan.