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New Castle expects bridge to be started in summer
The new bridge should be open in 2009.
NEW CASTLE, Pa. — Construction of the new Grant Street Bridge on the city’s West Side is expected to begin this summer, city officials said.
The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation is advertising for bids for the project on the Internet and has announced plans to start receiving those bids May 1.
The new structure will replace the old bridge, which has been closed since 2003.
Mayor Anthony Mastrangelo said work on the 263-foot-long span is expected to begin in June or July. He said the project, estimated between $2.5 million and $3.5 million, should be completed by the end of the year, although the bridge likely will not be open to traffic until 2009.
“This is something that the city desperately needs,” Mastrangelo said. “We need a bridge over there and residents have been waiting a long time, too long, for this. I’ve been told it will take about a year to complete.”
Residents from the city’s West Side have converged on city council many times over the past several years inquiring about the progress of the project. They have questioned delays and pleaded with officials to see to the project’s completion.
“I know this will be a great relief for [those residents],” Mastrangelo said. “It will be good for all of us. This is very encouraging. The bridge connects the city. Not having access to it has caused quite a hardship.”
Initially, officials said the new bridge would be completed within two years of its closing — first to vehicle traffic and then to pedestrians — in 2003. But design work was stopped in 2005 because of a lack of money. When the state committed its share of the funding in 2006, design work on the project resumed.
The new bridge, which will span the Shenango River, will have a concrete deck on steel girders and a sidewalk on the north side.
State and federal funds will cover most of the cost, with the city providing $190,000. The city’s portion was set aside in a 2005 capital projects bond issue.