STONE HARBOR – Administrator Manny Parada provided the Borough Council with a tentative schedule for the replacement of the historic 96th Street Bridge on April 2, emphasizing that the schedule is the province of the county and not the municipality.
Parada said that design of the project continues and is between 60% and 90% completed. He said the design will ultimately need to be submitted to the state Department of Transportation, the source of the funding for the work.
The project’s goal is to have a completed design that has been through the approval process for all permits by the end of the calendar year. This would allow for submission to DOT for funding by January 2025, and a bid process then could be initiated in May 2025, with construction to start in September.
Parada said there would be three points at which road closures would be necessary. There also is a point when a temporary bridge is put in place that will limit channel navigation to vessels that could fit under a temporary bridge. That bridge will not open.
The administrator emphasized that many factors could impact the schedule. He said if all went according to the plan as it is known today, the first road closures would occur in February 2026, with the road reopened for the summer season.
Another closure would occur in the fall of 2026 with the temporary bridge put in place and channel navigation limited until the new bridge is installed. A final road closure would be needed toward the end of 2027 through February 2028.
The goal is completion of the project by May 2028.
Contact the author, Vince Conti, at vconti@cmcherald.com.