Members of the Massachusetts Department of Transportation addressed a small gathering of residents and town officials Tuesday, regarding the replacement of the structurally unsound bridge that currently spans the Weweantic River at Paper Mill Road.

Project manager Lou Rubino said the project is estimated to cost around $2 million, and that the current design is only 25 percent complete.

Andrew Wilkins, of the department’s highway design section, spoke about the department’s reasoning behind replacing the bridge, which was built in 1949, and its new proposed design.

“There are no useable shoulders, and sidewalk on Paper Mill Road, as well,” Wilkins said. “There will be five feet of shoulder space. We will also be adding a sidewalk on the [north] side of the bridge.”

The new bridge will include space for bicyclists to safely pass. Other improvements include better guard rails, traffic controls, and erosion prevention measures. The committee said the only issue residents would face would be the bridge’s temporary closure, during construction, which is projected to be completed by the fall of this year.

Wareham Road Commissioners member Howard Smith later said the minor inconvenience of the bridge closure was worth getting a safer bridge.

“There’s a few more [bridges] in town that should be [replaced], but this is a start,” Smith said.

The committee said the aspects of the project it is concerned about are encroachment upon the wetlands, and the archaeological site of the Tabor Mill, which it hopes to take measures to mitigate.