The old and dilapidated bridge over Otter Creek in Bristol Borough is gone and a new $2.2 million span has opened in its place.
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On Monday, Bristol Borough officials received the key for the completed bridge.
Council member Louis Quattrocchi said the Maple Road bridge had its soft opening this week, but a formal opening event will be held in September.
“The bridge will now allow the police and sewer plant workers to use the one lane. It will be blocked off to regular traffic. The other lane will allow bikers and walkers to travel back to the borough-owned property on the other side of the marsh,” Quattrocchi said.
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The new bridge will not be open for the general public to drive over, but it will be in use for bicyclists and pedestrians.
The borough paid $2.2 million to Loftus Construction to complete the project, which was entirely funded by grants.
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The new bridge has been under construction since earlier this year.
“They did a beautiful job,” Quattrocchi said.
The entirety of the project was funded by grants from the PennDOT Multimodal Transportation Fund, Bucks County Open Space Program, the Pennsylvania Redevelopment Assistance Capital Program, community project funding through the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, and Bucks County Water and Sewer Authority.
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In the future, the borough may develop part of the property on the other side of the bridge for recreation.
The Maple Beach Bridge was constructed over the Otter Creek in 1915, and served as a connection between Bristol Borough and the Maple Beach section of Bristol Township. The neighborhood only includes a few homes after the former Rohm and Haas company began purchasing the neighborhood for their campus in the first part of the 20th century.
Credit: Tom Sofield/LevittownNow.com
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The borough has wanted the bridge repaired or replaced for years.
Prior to the bridge being replaced, the sewer plant was only accessible by going into Bristol Township and across Dow Chemical property.
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