Long-awaited Sellers Avenue Bridge reopening brings relief to Ridley Park businesses
After four years of construction and detours, the Sellers Avenue Bridge in Ridley Park, Pennsylvania, is reopening, bringing relief to business owners who said the closure took a toll on their livelihoods.
PennDOT is wrapping up a $10 million construction project, with a ribbon-cutting ceremony planned for Thursday at 1:30 p.m. to celebrate the completion of the bridge.
"I could not be more excited," Jennifer Kearney, who owns a photography studio in the middle of the construction zone, said.
The construction noise sometimes made it difficult to work.
"It's a little bit hard to do a newborn photo shoot when there's a jackhammer right outside," she said.
The bridge was built in 1904 and rebuilt in 1952. PennDOT abruptly closed it in July 2022 after determining it was no longer safe for drivers or pedestrians.
Business owners said they are ready for a fresh start.
"I am so thrilled about parking being more available, and there's parking wars around here for sure," Machele Kortum, owner of Lux & Roses, said, "and those roads being closed by the bridge is not helping."
The new bridge has two travel lanes and a sidewalk on each side.
PennDOT also made traffic signal upgrades, installed ADA ramps and completed other improvements designed to accommodate higher traffic volumes.
"The bridge was replaced with a 75-foot-long concrete box beam bridge and a solid-faced barrier capped with curved fencing on the barrier was installed with the bridge, so there are some safety features," Helen Reinbrecht, community relations coordinator for PennDOT, said. "We did keep a lot of the historic elements of the bridge, so ornamented lighting and plaques. And the masonry abutments will all look familiar to drivers and pedestrians."
Before its closure, the bridge carried about 3,400 vehicles a day, with trains running underneath. Pedestrians can already use the new bridge. Vehicle traffic is set to return Thursday.
Kearney hopes the reopening will make it easier for people to visit her studio, and said she is grateful to the clients who continued to support her throughout the construction.
"There were times when I was kind of ready to throw in the towel and just say, you know what? I'm done, I'm going to find another space," she said. "But then it got to a point where I thought, if I've made it this far, I want to see the completion."
