NEW HOPE, PA – The Delaware River Joint Toll Bridge Commission today announced a tentative July 11 opening date for a temporary walkway that will be put into service at the Hope-Lambertville Bridge so the structure’s aging sidewalk can be removed and replaced during the ensuing 11 weeks.
The Commission said the temporary walkway’s July 11 opening date must be considered “tentative” because it is contingent on a utility contractor’s July 10 installation of an underground natural-gas service line near the bridge’s Lambertville approach. If that weather-sensitive work can be completed without unanticipated issues that force delays, then the temporary bridge walkway’s opening could occur sometime the next day, July 11.
Preparations for the temporary walkway installation 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 needs to install a temporary walkway on the bridge’s road deck linking the New Hope and Lambertville commercial districts.
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, currently scheduled to be completed on July 10.
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. The walkway replacement work will involve installation of quieter slip-resistant foam-core panels and new railings. This next work stage is currently projected to end in late September.
