Detour for three months around North Main Street crossing of 1000 Yard Branch set to begin Wednesday

Workers were finishing what they needed to accomplish and equipment and materials are staging in preparation to replace a bridge on North Main Street, a project several years in the making.

The bridge that dates back to the 1940s for its original construction has undergone repairs from time to time, but now it has reached the end of its useful lifespan. Commissioner Matt Foster commented during Monday night’s regular session that he didn’t understand some of the comments made on social media about the forthcoming replacement project.

He instead saw it as the Department of Transportation thinking ahead toward future issues, noting that he appreciated they are “doing the work now” to avoid potential damage to the aging structure instead.

The GDOT project is set to begin with the closure on Wednesday as traffic begins a detour around the North Main Street bridge over the 1000 Yard Branch tributary in between the intersections with Girard and Jule Peek Avenue.

Work ahead of the detour by the city to make the intersections with North College Street and Jule Peek, along with North College at West Girard four way stop intersections and decreasing the speed limit along the whole section of College Street are among some of the safety measures already taken as the new route goes into effect today.

Those decisions – along with a new one to make the intersection with Cave Spring Road and West Girard Avenue a four way approved on Monday night by the City Commission – provides another attempt to get drivers to slow down as they are forced into alternate routes to get to their destinations.

The bridge is expected to be completed in the next three months, per City Manager Edward Guzman. That’s the amount of time the contract put out for bid gave construction crews to finish the demolition of the old span, and put up a whole new bridge.

Check back for additional details on Wednesday as the bridge closure gets underway and the project continues over the coming weeks.