NL bridge to close this month, reopen by mid-October

Starting later this month, the bridge that links Walnutport to Slatington will be closed to traffic until well into the fall.

The Main Street bridge over the Lehigh River that connects the two boroughs will be closed for deck replacement, according to Ron Young, Pennsylvania Department of Transportation spokesman.

Young said the bridge repair is part of a multiple bridge rehab program throughout Lehigh and Northampton counties.

The deck on the Main Street bridge has been rated as poor, and will be replaced, he said.

Once closed, traffic will be detoured on Route 873 (North Walnut Street), Route 145 (Riverview Drive/North Best Avenue), and Route 248 (POW/MIA Remembrance Highway), Young said.

The closure is expected to last likely until mid-October.

“It does unfortunately overlap with part of the school year,” Young said. “We tried to minimize it as much as possible.”

Although the bridge will be closed to vehicles, plans have been made so that emergency medical services will still be able to use it.

“As a result, it has made the closure a little longer into the school year,” he said. “The locals felt it was very important to have that access in order to be able to get across in emergencies.”

Young said that pedestrian access will be maintained on the bridge during the deck replacement.

The deck is originally from 1969.

It will be replaced with a 48.5-foot-wide, 419-feet long deck.

Once the detour is in place, Young said PennDOT will monitor traffic signals and adjust them if they see things aren’t working smoothly.

Bus impact

The deck replacement project will have an impact on student transportation, according to Northern Lehigh School District Superintendent Matthew Link.

“We understand the bridge is in poor condition and needs major repair, which we fully support,” Link said. “However, the bridge closure will have a significant impact on transportation for those students, about 180, who utilize any bus that crosses the bridge in the morning or afternoon to get to and from school. It will also have a significant impact on those families that drive their children to and from school across the bridge.”

Link added, “There will be minimal impact on walkers, as PennDOT has assured me there will always be a safe walking lane open for pedestrians.”

He said about 18 district vehicles, buses, minibuses and vans will have to utilize the detour through the Lehigh Gap, which will add travel time to each of those runs in the morning and afternoon. Some buses will add over an hour travel time, cumulatively, Link said.

“Due to this, we will have to alter pick up and drop off times for each affected bus,” he said. “Families that transport their own children will also have to plan for delays through the detour.

“All of this means that the district will have an increase in fuel costs due to the extra miles traveled during the bridge closure. I anticipate the first week of school will be the most difficult as we figure out what the actual flow of traffic will be like once school opens.”

Link said that last week he requested that PennDOT work with the contractors to allow school buses and vans access to the 14-foot-wide emergency lane that will be accessible to emergency responders “so we can mitigate the disruption to bus routes and schedules and our Northern Lehigh families.”

However, Link said the district’s request to use the bridge for busing was denied.

“Once we know a little more information for certain, we will be sending out communications to the district families on what to expect from the district during the project,” he said. “Our director of operations and transportation is working with our busing company to put the best plan possible into place.”