The new Water Street Bridge is largely complete, however finishing touches to the span must still be applied by Kriger Construction crews. This view is looking east across the bridge toward W. Water Street in Hellertown borough.
Those hoping that the new Water Street Bridge would be open in time to assist with their weekend travel plans will have to wait a bit longer to enjoy crossing it for the first time.
The two-lane bridge’s anticipated completion date has been Sept. 27 since the PennDOT project got underway, however Hellertown borough officials announced Thursday that it will remain closed through Sunday, Sept. 29 for milling, paving and line striping.
Pedestrian access to Water Street Park and the Saucon Rail Trail in Hellertown will remain open over the weekend.
The former Water Street Bridge–which was built in 1938–was closed to traffic July 29 and shortly thereafter demolished.
Over the intervening two months car and truck traffic has been detoured around the closure, through parts of Lower Saucon Township and the City of Bethlehem.
Kriger Construction of Dickson City, Lackawanna County, is the contractor for the project, which is located in three municipalities: the borough, the township and the city.
The new bridge is also being buttressed by sidewalk improvements in both directions.
On the Hellertown side, crews are installing new handicapped-accessible ramps that will improve accessibilty between the bridge and Main Street.
On the Bethlehem side of the bridge, a new sidewalk extends from the bridge to Creek Road, where it will link up with the walking trail that leads to the Saucon View apartment complex.
New sidewalk has been poured between the west end of the bridge and the intersection of Creek and Friedensville roads. The sidewalk will fill in a “missing link” that existed for pedestrians between Hellertown borough and nearby housing developments in both Bethlehem city and Lower Saucon Township.
