LAMBERTVILLE, NJ – The elusive start date for closing the New Hope-Lambertville Toll-Supported Bridge’s pedestrian walkway has changed again. The walkway is now expected to be shut down early Thursday morning, July 11, at which point a temporary walkway across the bridge’s road deck will be put into service for the public’s use.
The switch of bridge walkway surfaces is now predicated on the installation of a natural-gas supply line within the already-cordoned downstream travel lane on the bridge’s Lambertville side. That gas utility work is scheduled to occur tomorrow – Wednesday, July 10. If that work is completed in a single day as anticipated, the switch of bridge walkways should occur by 6 a.m. Thursday.
The walkway switch is a critical milestone for the rehabilitation project that has been underway at the bridge since earlier this year. The bridge’s current 20-year-old walkway, which is reaching the end of its service life, needs to be closed for replacement while the project contractor cleans and repaints the bridge’s downstream steel truss sections between now and late September.
The project contractor and its subcontractors have already moved quickly to set up the bridge for this next major work stage. Pennsylvania-bound traffic was shifted back to its normal upstream lane two weeks ago. Subsequently, a temporary steel traffic barrier was installed across the bridge to separate vehicular traffic from a 6-foot-wide temporary walkway to be installed on a portion of the bridge’s adjacent downstream lane. Additionally, a steel partition wall was installed across the bridge today to shield temporary walkway users from next-work-stage construction and painting activities. Painting containment measures also were being installed today on the bridge’s Pennsylvania side.
The bulk of temporary walkway installation work is expected to occur tomorrow as the initial gas-utility work takes place on the bridge’s Lambertville side. A second day of gas utility work is expected for Thursday, predicated on the closure of the bridge’s current pedestrian walkway that morning.
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.
