After three months’ worth of detours, the Bakers Basin Road bridge over the Shipetaukin Creek in Lawrence Township was reopened to motorists last week – three weeks ahead of schedule.
The bridge was slated to be reopened Jan. 4, but work was completed ahead of schedule and motorists began using it on Dec. 20, according to Mercer County officials.
Bakers Basin Road is off Route 1, opposite Franklin Corner Road.
Mercer County officials awarded a $1.6 million contract to Midlantic Construction LLC for the bridge project earlier this year. Work began in September.
The original bridge over the Shipetaukin Creek was built in 1937. The Mercer County Department of Transportation and Infrastructure, which maintains the bridge, deemed it to be structurally deficient. On a scale of 0 to 100, with 100 being the best, it was rated at 45.6 points.
The original bridge was 27 feet wide, but the new bridge is 40 feet wide. It has two 12-foot-wide travel lanes, two 5-foot-wide shoulders and a 6-foot-wide sidewalk on one side. The approach to the bridge has been widened, too.
