City Officials Celebrate Completion Of Edmondson Avenue Bridge Reconstruction Project
BALTIMORE (WJZ) -- Baltimore City officials lauded the completion of the Edmondson Avenue Bridge reconstruction project on Friday.
Standing 70 feet over the Gwynns Falls and the CSX Railroad, the span was more than 100 years old and nearly two football fields long.
"The reconstruction of the Edmondson Avenue Bridge is a major milestone for communities in west Baltimore and commuters along US Route 40," said Mayor Brandon Scott. "We are committed to improving our transportation infrastructure throughout the city, and we thank our federal partners for their support in reconstructing this historic bridge along a crucial east-west corridor which will serve the community for another 75 years."
The new bridge maintains two travel lanes in each direction but also has wider sidewalks, according to a Baltimore City Department of Transportation website.
At the end of 2016, the city launched a $40.3 million rehabilitation of the bridge after the span started showing signs of deterioration. Crews used "phased construction" to keep the road open to traffic, DOT said in a news release. More than 4,300 traverse the bridge each day.
The design included support for a spur on the now-defunct Red Line Light Rail. Although the project was scrapped by Gov. Larry Hogan in his first year in office, city officials said they moved forward with the design "should the opportunity for an east-west rail service be proposed in the future."
