Work on constructing the new Alexander Road Bridge has been ongoing since last summer, and things are moving along and on time, according to state officials.##M:[more]##
The work on the bridge’s retaining walls and footings was recently completed, and the structural steel should be completely installed in the next couple of weeks, said DOT spokeswoman Fran McCrory.
In “late summer, they’re probably going to detour for the new roadway,” McCrory added. She says the whole project is still slated to be completed by December.
The new bridge will be twice as wide, and instead of a “T” will have a roundabout connecting Alexander and North Post roads. The project will include adding shoulders and sidewalks on all approaches to the new bridge, allowing bikers and pedestrians use of a section of roadway that is currently virtually inaccessible to them.
While some may be worried about the road closure coinciding with with work on the Meadow Road project, Mayor Hsueh and Community Development Director Pat Ward said that the township will “absolutely not” have both roads closed at the same time.
The first phase of the Meadow Road project — which entails realigning the 90-degree curve so that Meadow Road from Bear Brook will go directly to the bridge and to Route 1 and Carnegie Center in a straight line — is also scheduled for this summer, but “I can tell you emphatically that the road would not be closed at the same time,” Ward said. “Just for emergency services alone, we would not want to do that, let alone all the commuters. That would be total grid-lock.”
The first phase of the project also includes putting in sewers along the road. “We should be going out to bid for construction in April,” Ward said, adding that it will take some time getting the bids back and for officials to review them. “Then typically the contractor has 90 days after the award of the contract.”
Actual construction should begin in the summer, she said, but because township officials don’t have bid documents yet, they’re not sure how any road closures would be set up at this point. “We would not do anything to have both roads closed at the same time,” Ward said.
Hsueh echoed this sentiment, saying that the township engineer is aware of the impact of both of the projects on traffic, and that the projects will be coordinated so that “there will not be extra inconvenience created.”
The second phase of the Meadow Road project includes improvements from Bear Brook Road to the Clarksville Road intersection, where a traffic light will be installed. The “design of the intersection will also have to be coordinated with the county with regard to future improvements of Clarksville Road,” Hsueh said.
