Work is set to begin in 2024 on the Walnut Street bridge replacement and intersection realignment in Slatington.

Construction is expected to last about 2.5 construction seasons, which is spring through fall.

Rick Molchany, the director of General Services for Lehigh County, said this project has been in the works for several years.

“We would have liked to do this years ago, but this is a complicated plan. It takes time,” he said. “At no point did we abandon the project.”

Lehigh County and the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation are doing this project as a joint effort.

“We are working collaboratively to make sure we have a seamless project,” he said.

The reason both Lehigh County and PennDOT are involved in the project is because the county owns the bridge, but PennDOT oversees the two state routes that cross at the intersection of Route 873 and Main Street in Slatington.

Coming from the Lehigh Valley, Route 873 actually comes into Slatington and becomes Main Street, until it reaches the intersection in the project. When it comes to that stop light, Route 873 turns left and becomes North Walnut Street. South Walnut Street is on the right. Main Street goes straight through the intersection and on to Walnutport. Eventually, it becomes Route 946.

Molchany said that even though the project has taken a long time, there is no risk of the current bridge falling down. Built in 1925, the bridge will be maintained until the time comes for it to be replaced. It is listed by Penn­DOT as being in fair condition. Commercial trucks are not supposed to cross it. It has a 15-ton weight limit.

The new bridge will be 36 feet wide and 257 feet from one abutment to the other. Dan Stevens, the borough manager, said it will have two 10-foot lanes and two 3-foot shoulders. The bridge will also contain two barrier protected sidewalks measuring 5 feet each on both sides of the bridge.

The current bridge is two lanes that are about 9 feet wide each and no shoulders.

“There’s no room for error,” Stevens said about the current bridge. “You can’t get over even a little.”

The new bridge will be supported with one pier in the center of the bridge. The two abutments on the ends will be more than double the size of the old abutments. The asphalt trail will remain passable below the bridge, even though the abutment will be much closer to it.

“That’s going to be pretty tight with the trail,” Stevens said.

The new bridge will be installed more than 20 feet to the east of the current bridge in order to align the intersection.

“They have to move the whole thing over,” Stevens said. “This is probably the only chance we’ll ever have of getting the intersection fixed.”

This means the house on the corner at the intersection will have to be removed, as well as the former business and house at the intersection of South Walnut Street and East Church Street.

Stevens said the misaligned intersection has been a big problem.

“There’s accidents there because they’re not lined up. It never has been, so it’s been a constant problem,” he said.

Stevens explained that people on Route 873/North Walnut Street treat the lane like it is two lanes. It’s not.

That one lane will now become two lanes with a dedicated right-hand turn lane, and straight or turn left lane. New traffic signals, Americans with Disabilities Act compliant curb ramps, and stormwater drainage will also be installed. As for lighting, Lehigh County’s Rick Molchany said the lights on the bridge will be the same as those on the road near the intersection. They didn’t want two different styles of lighting.

“We are confident this bridge will look great,” he said. “I think the citizens will be pleased with the bridge.”

Molchany also said they have been working with the Slatington Historic Society to design six markers that will be placed on the trail and the bridge. The markers will have information on them about the history of Slatington.

Ron Young, a district press officer for PennDOT, said the project is expected to cost between $6 million and $7 million. The federal government is contributing about 80% of the funding, and the state is contributing about 15%. Lehigh County is providing about 5% of the funding.

Stevens said the borough was awarded a $400,000 multimodal grant from the state for the project with a matching requirement from borough. Because of the delays with the project, the borough council decided to give the money back to the state under the condition that the borough’s match would be locked in at $130,000.

“It’s a good thing we locked it in, because the costs aren’t getting any cheaper,” Stevens said.