gay street/ROUTE 113 bridge CLOSURE IN
phoenixville MOVED TO THURSDAY, April 3
KING OF PRUSSIA, PA (April 1) – The closure of the Gay Street/Route 113 Bridge in Phoenixville Borough, Chester County, has been moved to Thursday (April 3) morning due to the ongoing operation to raise the elevation of a railroad bridge over Main Street in Phoenixville, the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation announced today. The Gay Street/Route 113 Bridge was scheduled to close tomorrow (April 2).
PennDOT said crews will finish work tomorrow to raise the railroad trestle over Main Street, and then they will reopen Main Street to through traffic. The contractor has worked since March 24 to raise the elevation of the trestle two feet so borough fire trucks can safely travel under it while Gay Street/Route 113 is closed.
PennDOT is replacing the 84-year-old Gay Street/Route 113 Bridge that crosses over French Creek, several local streets, railroad tracks and the former Phoenix Steel site. The new bridge is scheduled to open in early 2010.
Under the $17,537,681 project, PennDOT’s contractor, Nyleve Bridge Corporation of Emmaus, Pa., will demolish the 12-span bridge and replace it with a new nine-span structure.
The new Gay Street/Route 113 Bridge will span 972 feet from end-to-end. The bridge’s concrete deck will be supported by steel beams on the three southern and two northern approach spans, and by steel arches on the four central spans. The bridge’s new substructure will consist of two reinforced concrete abutments at each end and eight reinforced concrete piers between the abutments.
Construction crews will build the new bridge on the same alignment as the existing structure. The new bridge will have two 12-foot wide travel lanes; two six-foot wide shoulders; two six-foot wide sidewalks; and ornamental street lights.
Detours will be in use for both cars and trucks during the two-year bridge closure. The truck detour is needed because the car route sends traffic under an overpass with a clearance of 13 feet, 3 inches. Vertical clearances must be at least 13 feet, 6 inches to be posted as a detour route for trucks.
Motorists driving cars and other conventional passenger vehicles will follow Bridge Street, Route 29, Black Rock Road, Trappe Road (Route 113) and Black Rock Road (Route 113) to move from downtown Phoenixville to the north side of the borough. They will follow the exact opposite route to move from the north side to the downtown area.
The detour to move truck traffic from downtown Phoenixville to the north side will be Bridge Street (Route 113), Route 23, Route 724, Bridge Street (in Spring City), 2nd Avenue and Black Rock Road (Route 113). Truck drivers will follow the exact opposite route to travel from the north side to downtown.
Approximately 6,700 vehicles a day use the Gay Street Bridge.
The project is financed with 80 percent federal and 20 percent state funds.