LAMBERTVILLE, NJ – An anticipated 11-week-long closure of the New Hope-Lambertville Toll-Supported Bridge’s pedestrian walkway will not begin until some point during week of July 14, the Delaware River Joint Toll Bridge Commission announced today.
The Commission previously announced a “tentative” July 11 start date for closing the bridge walkway and opening a temporary walkway on the bridge’s road deck to allow uninterrupted pedestrian crossings between New Hope and Lambertville while the next major stage of the bridge’s rehabilitation takes place from July through September.
The prospective July 11 date was considered “tentative” because of a series of tasks that need to be completed before pedestrian traffic can be moved off the current walkway and onto the temporary walkway. Among the tasks are the installation of a temporary walkway across the bridge, the erection of a construction-zone partition to separate the walkway from the next stage’s work area, and the installation of an underground natural gas line in the vicinity of the bridge’s Lambertville approach.
Preparations for the approaching walkway switch began last week when the project contractor – Anselmi and DeCicco – completed the first half of a rehabilitation project that has been underway at the bridge since early this year. Pennsylvania-bound traffic at the bridge subsequently was shifted back to its normal upstream lane, providing the contractor the space it will need to carry out the bridge rehabilitation project next major stage on the structure’s downstream trusses.
A temporary steel construction barrier has already been installed on the bridge road deck to separate pedestrians from PA-bound motor vehicles crossing the bridge. The next step is the installation of the temporary walkway itself, the installation of a work-area partition starting on the Pennsylvania side, and then the gas utility work on the New Jersey side.
Because the temporary walkway must be confined to a six-foot width – two feet narrower than the current bridge walkway, the Commission also plans to operate a temporary courtesy shuttle between New Hope and Lambertville while the bridge’s permanent walkway is out of service. The shuttle will be ADA-accessible. It is expected to operate 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. every day. There will be designated stops – one in New Hope and the other in Lambertville. A one-way trip will take approximately 12 minutes, crossing the river at the nearby New Hope-Lambertville (Route 202) Toll Bridge.
The bridge’s walkway replacement work will take place in tandem with the cleaning and repainting of the bridge’s downstream steel truss sections and the walkway’s steel supports. Subsequent walkway replacement work will involve installation of quieter slip-resistant foam-core panels and new railings.
The Commission expects it could be in a position late next week to announce a specific date and time for closure of the current bridge walkway, the opening of the temporary bridge walkway, and the start of shuttle service between New Hope and Lambertville.
