Travel restrictions related to a project to replace the bridge that carries Schuylkill Avenue over railroad tracks in Reading has been delayed by two weeks.
The 400 block of Schuylkill Avenue will be closed for almost two years starting March 3, while a PennDOT contractor replaces the bridge over the Norfolk Southern railway.
The detour, which was initially set to start Monday, is necessary for repairs on the 109-year-old bridge.
The $8.4 million project will replace the structurally deficient three-span structure with a single-span composite prestressed concrete box-beam bridge, said PennDOT district safety press officer Sean Brown.
Brown said Tuesday that city crews need more time to get traffic signals in order before work can begin.
Schuylkill Avenue will be raised to meet the 23-foot minimum vertical clearance requirement for the railroad, officials said.
Upon completion, the new bridge will allow for trains to travel through the underpass while carrying cargo containers stacked two-high — only one container can currently pass at a time.
The latest projection has the detour continuing through fall 2026, Brown said.
Route 183 (the state route that also includes part of North Front Street) is classified as an urban arterial highway and carries 6,900 vehicles per day as well as a significant amount of pedestrian traffic.
Separate detours for pedestrians, passenger vehicles, tractor-trailers and secondary trucks have been established.
The proposed passenger vehicle detour is slightly more than a half-mile. It will follow West Greenwich Street, North Front Street and West Buttonwood Street.
To accommodate the detour, the two-block section of North Front Street between West Buttonwood and West Greenwich streets — currently one-way northbound for both lanes — will be temporarily converted to one lane in both directions during construction. For residents who live along North Front, Brown said, the new traffic pattern will impact some on-street parking.
The 5.3-mile large-truck detour will use Route 222 to Penn Street. A 1.3-mile secondary-truck detour will use West Greenwich, North Fourth and Washington streets.
For pedestrians, the detour will follow West Green, North Front and West Buttonwood streets, a distance of slightly less than a half-mile.
Source: Berkshire mont