Public, private sector officials celebrate groundbreaking for Christina River bridge

Karl Baker | The News Journal

City of Wilmington, state of Delaware and private sector players met Friday afternoon to celebrate the beginning of construction on a bridge they say will be key to the revitalization of Delaware’s largest city.

In what is the latest government-funded effort in the decadeslong makeover of the Wilmington Riverfront, the bridge will be a "witness to the power of investment by the state," Wilmington Mayor Mike Purzycki said.

Officials hope the bridge – which will feature two 11-foot-wide vehicle lanes, along with 14 feet of bicycle and pedestrians pathways – will nudge Riverfront prosperity over the city's principal waterway to the economically depressed Southbridge area.

The span will roughly extend from where Justison Street ends, at the southern edge of the Riverfront, over the Christina River to a spot just north of James Court at U.S. 13.

"The obvious (value) for a lot of people will be being able to ease traffic congestion that occurs every time we have events down here," Purzycki said. “But the more strategic advantage is we tie both sides of the river together, and I think it’s going to propel growth on the (Southbridge) side of the river.”

City plans include corporate offices along the bank of the river and light industrial shops farther into the core of Southbridge, near Garasches Lane, Purzycki said. The Christina River bridge will "open up" more than 60 acres of land to be developed, he added.

Purzycki envisions a resulting transformation of the southern bank of the Christina, similar to one that occurred at Philadelphia's Navy Yard, which today is a 1,200-acre development that houses 152 companies, according to its website.

The planned growth is made possible by partnering with the Riverfront Development Corp. and private companies, such as developers Buccini/Pollin Group and Pettinaro, Purzycki said.

"I don't want to go any farther without recognizing our essential private-sector partners," he said. "Without them, none of this works."

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Construction on the span, which is set to begin this summer, will cost $28 million – $10 million more than estimated. A Delaware Department of Transportation official in March said the cost reflected current market conditions.

It is investments in infrastructure, such as the bridge, that created the thriving Riverfront as it is today, Gov. John Carney said at the groundbreaking ceremony.

“If you told me 25 years ago that we’d have 2,000 people living on the Riverfront, that we’d have 4,000 people coming to work here on the Riverfront … a lot of people would have said, ‘You got to be out of your mind,’” Carney said.

Business investments at the Riverfront continue today with the planned construction of three hotels, expected to add 400 rooms.

U.S. Sen. Tom Carper echoed Carney's sentiment, saying the development of the Riverfront is comparable to a past revitalization of the Baltimore Harbor, which today is a tourism center for Maryland's largest city.

The concrete Christina River bridge is scheduled to open in 2019. When complete, the bridge will be jointly maintained by the city of Wilmington and the Delaware Department of Transportation.

During construction, a pedestrian path that lines the northern bank of the Christina River bridge will be temporarily rerouted.

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