As originally thought and discussed in the fall, Bristol Township officials said late last month the reopening of the Randall Avenue Bridge will be delayed to 2026
Final inspections and coordination with rail and utility companies, Bristol Township Manager Randee Mazur said are being set up she said in preparation for the structures reopening, now almost three years in the making.
The township is coordinating with PennDOT, the Pennsylvania Utilities Commission, and Amtrak to schedule required inspections, which will lead to some temporary utility outages.
The township was hoping the bridge would be reopened by the end of this year, considering the progress made by the contactors in this the second phase of repairs to the abutments.
Township engineer Kurt Schroder said he was pleased with the progress in the report he gave to council in October.
The contractor is making good progress. The abutment and all of the loose concrete was removed and it’s now cast with new concrete, he said. A lot of the hidden stuff is now completely uncovered and we’re putting it back together, he said.
Credit: Jeff Bohen Lower Bucks Source
Again, we’re almost at the deadline where we had said it would be completed. It’s not probably not going to be completed by the end of the year but close to the beginning of the new year. We had a meeting with PennDOT, the Public Utility Commission and PennDOT’s consultants that will inspect the bridge. We’re lining up those inspections now because that will consider that we’ll be required to have some outages again. And so we’re just trying to be proactive again with Amtrak since we know that took a while the first time around, Mazur said.
Unfortunately we also have to take the time to let the contractors get a high-rail train again also, she said.
Getting a high rail and coordinating scheduling the high-rail, was the original sticking point for the township with Amtrak in the early stages of getting repairs to the bridge and a more thorough evaluation of what the options were (at the time) for the township move forward with the project.
Yes. Uh so we’re trying to be as proactive as possible to start that process/
“We’re trying to be as proactive as possible to start that process uh earlier. Uh the goal is to uh open the bridge. nce the um consultant uh the bridge inspectors say that it is compliant and it’s ready to be opened,” Mazur said.
Yes. Uh so we’re trying to be as proactive as possible to start that process u Yes. Uh so we’re trying to be as proactive as possible to start that process uh”>Once reopened the bridge it will only have a base coat of pavement with a top coat to be applied in the spring, said officials.
The work on the bridge once completed will likely lead to a tonnage increase, currently restricted to 3.5 Mazur said, saying the amount when that could happen is unknown presently.
And the bridge may after the full inspection uh takes place”>
“We don’t want to hold up the increase to open the bridge. So, we’re going to open the bridge and then um and then, you know, it might be re rerated.”
in the spring. And um the bridge may after the full inspection in the spring. And um the bridge may after the full inspection uh takes place”>
Loftus Construction is the current contractor phase at a cost $2.75 million to perform the second phase work on the more than 10o year old bridge.
Residents and township officials, since the bridges closing due to falling debris on to the tracks below close to three years ago, have been frustrated by the reams bureaucratic red tape in getting the off the ground and moving forward.
Once the work is completed, the township in the near future will have to decide on a complete bridge replacement or invest in renovations. which officials have said could cost upwards of $25 million.