Construction on a long-awaited pedestrian bridge will begin next month.

The bridge is one of the last remaining pieces to connect the Delaware and Lehigh National Heritage Corridor trail.On Thursday, the Carbon County Commissioners issued the notice to proceed to Latona Trucking Inc. of Pittston regarding the construction of the 250-foot steel truss bridge that will span the Lehigh River near Turkey Hill in Jim Thorpe.Latona was approved by the commissioners as the company to complete the project in December, after reviewing their bid of $2,729,483.20. The whole project is expected to cost over $3.2 million.The board said work is expected to start in March and be completed by the end of construction season this fall.Commissioners' Chairman Wayne Nothstein said that this project should have "minimal impact" on the lower end of the county parking lot near the construction zone, unlike the Route 903 bridge project over the past few years.He said there may need to be some spots moved around for renters' and personnel who use that area of the lot to accommodate the construction.