Warnings Issued For Pedestrians And Cyclists On Madison Street Bridge
A safety reminder for all pedestrians and cyclists who use the Madison Street Bridge was issued on Monday by Frontier West, the contractor in charge of the bridge rehabilitation project to watch out for signage to use the lower level.
Project Manager Mike Murphy said the bridge is being narrowed to allow workers to replace the bridge decking.
“We’re down to one lane in each direction now instead of two lanes in each direction,” Murphy said. “Traffic’s going to be congested, so please be patient and give yourself some extra time or find an alternative route. Pedestrians and bicycles can’t go on top anymore, they have to use the under-bridge because we’ll start taking the bridge deck off this week, so don’t try to go over the top because there’s no deck anymore.”
Murphy said the area is completely fenced off to keep pedestrians and cyclists away.
We’ve got it all barricaded and fenced off, so if you try to go over the top, you could fall through,” he said. “We’ll take the northbound deck off first and then in about mid-April we’ll start on the southbound lanes.”
Murphy said the Madison Street Bridge Project was moved ahead on the state’s construction calendar after some problems were discovered in 2016.
“The sidewalk was crumbling and falling off onto the trails below,” he said. “They decided to get on this project sooner rather than later,”
Murphy said the bridge rehabilitation project should be completed by the end of August.