Now the Veterans Memorial Bridge, just upstream, carries these routes between Somerset and Fall River.

Starting in 1983,[3] plans were put in place to replace the bridge with a new, higher and wider span 1,500 feet (460 m) upriver, which would span from a proposed flyover intersection with Route 79 on the Fall River side, to a new access road through the former site of Slade's Ferry Park in Somerset.

Plans were put on hold in 1989, when the Coast Guard protested the size of the opening of the bridge.

A third problem arose in 2008, when inspectors questioned the quality of the cement used in the main pilings for the bridge.

Around 2005, local officials pushed to keep the bridge intact even after its replacement was completed, as a way to stop the controversial LNG terminal to the north.