Delaware awards $20 million contract to build new Riverfront roads in Wilmington

Karl Baker | The News Journal

Show Caption Hide Caption A flyover preview of the future Christina River Bridge State and federal funds have been secured for a bridge to be built across the Christina River at the southern end of the Riverfront.

The transformed Wilmington Riverfront will undergo more change during the next two years as Delaware and the federal government spend $20 million to build new roads that connect with a Christina River bridge under construction.

The estimated 516 days of work likely will overlap with construction of two hotels on the Riverfront and a new arena for the Delaware 87ers in Southbridge — the latest redevelopment efforts in an area where state officials have invested hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars.

"This involves roadwork on each side of the Christina River, the Wilmington Riverfront, both Market and Walnut streets, as well as the street network around Frawley Stadium and the Chase Center," state project manager Matthew Vincent told a gathering of contractors in May.

The project is scheduled to be complete by the summer of 2020.

It is part of a larger plan to relieve congestion at the Riverfront by adding a new artery out of the area that will take drivers over the Christina River to I-495. New or rebuilt roads will extend from Beech Street in the north past Frawley Stadium to the spot where Justison Street currently ends.

There, a 470-foot-long bridge is being constructed over the Christina River. A new road also will be built on the south bank of the river, linking the bridge to U.S. 13. By 2035, it is expected to carry 5,750 vehicles each day, DelDOT spokesman C.R. McLeod said in an email.

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The bridge and roads projects will connect the redeveloped and booming Riverfront with Wilmington’s Southbridge, a neighborhood with poorly maintained streets and a depressed economy. State officials have said that the infrastructure should nudge economic prosperity across the river.

"The bridge will be a critical connection between the west side, or developed side of the Riverfront, and the southeastern section of Wilmington, which is one of the city’s last remaining larger areas of undeveloped land," McLeod said on Friday.

In early 2017, DelDOT awarded the $28 million bridge contract. When it came in, it was $10 million more than estimated after just two firms had bid on the project. Today, it is ongoing with cranes and barges punctuating the view of the Christina River.

McLeod said there is no opening date for the bridge, but the project is "moving along as anticipated." In past years, the state said it should open next year.

He said there have been change orders as part of the project, but he did not state how many.

The work is being performed by New Jersey-based Richard E. Pierson Construction, the same company that won the Riverfront road contract this month with a $19.9 million bid that was $1.6 million over a state estimate. Four companies bid on that contract.

The cost will be split, with the federal government paying 80 percent and the state paying 20.

Richard E. Pierson Construction did not reply to requests to comment for this story.

In its official project justification, DelDOT says the "success of Wilmington's redevelopment of this area depends on multi-modal transportation improvements."

In addition to two 11-foot-wide vehicle lanes, the bridge will have 14 feet of bicycle and pedestrian pathways.

The construction of the new road system also will involve weekend closures of certain roads in the area, Vincent said in May.

Another Wilmington bridge across the Christina River on James Street also will be rebuilt in the coming years, according to past state plans. Crews will replace its existing, structurally deficient superstructure with new steel beams and a concrete deck for about $6.8 million.

Separately, a bridge for pedestrians and cyclists has been built over the Christina River south of the Riverfront at the Russell Peterson Wildlife Refuge. It should open to the public in August.

Contact Karl Baker at kbaker@delawareonline.com or (302) 324-2329. Follow him on Twitter @kbaker6.

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