Walnut Lane Bridge Renovation Will Close Bridge for a Year

To rehab the historic Walnut Lane Bridge, construction crews will close the structure over the Wissahickon Creek for one year, state officials said Thursday.

During a question and answer session at , Pennsylvania Department of Transportation officials shared renovation plans for the 1908 bridge. Work starts on the $10 million project in the summer of 2014.

The discussion talked with community members about what has happened with the bridge, what needs to, but also what they would like to see improved.

“It is an amazing 100-year-old structure that is still standing and can still be rehabilitated,” said Ryan Whittington, of PennDOT. “It is a significant landmark.”

The bridge carries one lane of traffic, a bike lane and a pedestrian sidewalk on each side, and links Roxborough to Mt. Airy and Germantown. Consultants from TransSystems said an average of 16,000 cars a day travel across the bridge. This vehicle use plus weather and age have worn the bridge considerably. Currently, a protective shelter has been constructed to protect trail users on Forbidden Drive from falling concrete.

What's Being Fixed

The bridge was part of the “City Beautiful” movement era of the turn of the century. The desire was not to just have a functional bridge but also an aesthetically pleasing one. The bridge cut what was once an half a day journey from Germantown to Roxborough to a mere few minutes. It was once the longest and highest concrete arch in the world, when it was completed in 1908 and is eligible for listing on the National Register of Historic Places.

The rehabilitation has an eye toward historical restoration by replacing the current balustrades with new precast concrete ones, repairing or replicating the existing plaques, and removing the current lighting, installed in the 1970s and replacing it with something more reflective of the period.

Other work includes:

• Upgrading the existing drainage system;
• Stabilizing slope erosion;
• Replacing sidewalk and sidewalk support brackets; and
• Removing the existing steel barrier with a new one.

In addition to the elements, some parts of the bridge’s construction have accelerated its deterioration. According to Michael Cuddy of TransSystems, during the original bridge construction, there was a dip in the centerline of the roadway for a potential addition of a trolley. When the plans for a trolley were abandoned, this dip was filled with cinders. Those cinders have become waterlogged and are taking their toll on the bridge.

“We’ll replace the layer of cinders with lightweight reinforced concrete,” Cuddy said. “We want to maintain the historical integrity of the bridge while bringing it up to current standards.”

According to Cuddy, the new road will be 7 inches lower than it currently is. Sidewalks with a curb and a higher guardrail are created as traffic calming measures. Cuddy hopes the construction, which will take two years, will not interfere too much with park users below on Forbidden Drive.

“Every effort will be made to keep the trails open,” said Cuddy. “There are a few caveats, of course. Most closure may happen only during work being done.”

How It Impacts You

Public meetings about the bridge are still ongoing. The final design phase will end this year. Construction is now planned for summer 2014. The bridge itself will be closed for one year. The estimated cost for this project is $10 million.

Beginning in Roxborough, the official detour, along state routes, follows Henry Avenue to Midvale Avenue; Midvale to Wissahickon Avenue; Wissahickon to Walnut Lane. It is a 3.25 mile detour. Cuddy said no one expects drivers around the area to follow the detour to the letter.

“People will find their own way,” Cuddy said.