Bristol Bridge scheduled to reopen next week

WALKER, Mich. (WOOD) — Crews were hard at work getting a railroad bridge in Walker ready to reopen. The bridge and road have been closed all summer.

Bristol Bridge is on Bristol Avenue near Pannell Avenue. The $4 million project started two years ago and construction started in spring.

Scott Conners, the city engineer for the city of Walker, said this project was necessary because there were many problems. The 117-year-old bridge was a headache for drivers since only one lane of traffic was allowed to cross under it, causing the other lane to stop. Low visibility also made it difficult for drivers to see if an opposite car was heading under the bridge. The height of the bridge also brought close calls for drivers, and Conners said they got many calls for stuck trucks.

“We were getting called out on a pretty regular basis for box trucks and dump trucks and things that happened to find their way there and didn’t look up and realize there was only a 10-foot clearance,” Conners said.

The new bridge has a 14-foot clearance with an arch. The road is also being expanded to allow two lanes to cross under at the same time. They also added sidewalks to make the area more walkable.

While city crews were working on Bristol Avenue, they also had to tackle on top of the bridge which has railroad tracks.

A railroad subcontractor will be working on the bridge Monday as well. They will start placing new stone ballast and railroad ties over the bridge.

While construction was ongoing, the city also had to divert train traffic by sending their cargo on the road.

“One of the things that we’ve had to do is what’s called trans-loading and so the railroad cars that would be coming across this bridge have to stop short of the bridge and then we have to offload them onto trucks and send the materials onto their destination,” Conners said. “But it’s quite expensive to do that and a little inconvenient for everybody that’s involved.”

Crews plan to lay down the first layer of asphalt Monday and final paving is scheduled for Sept. 14. The city hopes to open Bristol Avenue by Sept. 18, weather permitting. The railroad work is expected to take a week longer to finish up.

Once open, the road might see some future lane closures since crews will have to paint the brick and ledge stone patterns. You can find more details about the project here .

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