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February 25, 2019
Allentown, PA – Construction for the bridge carrying Race Street over Catasauqua Creek, located between Pineapple Street and 10th Street in Catasauqua Borough, Lehigh County, is scheduled to begin on Friday, March 8, 2019. The full replacement of the bridge is part of the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation’s (PennDOT) Rapid Bridge Replacement Project.
The bridge will be fully closed to traffic from 7 PM on Friday, March 8, to 6 AM on Monday, March 11. During the weekend closure, traffic travelling westbound will be detoured along 10th Street, Poplar Street and Lehigh Street. Motorists traveling east along Race Street will follow a detour along Lehigh Street, North Dauphin Street, North Irving Street, American Parkway and Airport Road. The bridge will reopen to westbound traffic only on Monday, March 11. Eastbound traffic will continue to follow the posted detour until construction wraps up in mid-to-late November.
In the event of unfavorable weather or unforeseen activities, this schedule may change.
The Rapid Bridge Replacement Project is a public-private partnership (P3) between PennDOT and Plenary Walsh Keystone Partners (PWKP), under which PWKP will finance, design, replace, and maintain the bridges for 25 years. The P3 approach will allow PennDOT to replace the bridges more quickly while achieving significant savings and minimizing impact on motorists.
More on P3 in Pennsylvania is available at www.P3.pa.gov or "Public-Private Partnerships" at www.penndot.gov. Information on the bridges and their status is at www.parapidbridges.com, or by calling the project hotline at 877-444-9990 or email info@parapidbridges.com.
This bridge is referred to as JV-176 and is one out of the 558 bridges being replaced under the Rapid Bridge Replacement Project. JV references the joint-venture partnership between Walsh/Granite, which is leading construction for the entire project.