Major construction will begin in July to replace two New Haven line bridges over Willet Avenue and Highland Street, and one retaining wall located near US-1 and Boston Post Road in Port Chester, announced the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) Metro-North Railroad (Metro-North).
Prep work to transform the bridges began at both sites in March ahead of construction to replace the nearly 130-year-old bridges.
“We continue to invest in Port Chester’s infrastructure and know the benefits this construction will have on our rail lines and what this means to the village,” said Catherine Rinaldi, Metro-North president. “Our priority to make improvements to these bridges is part of our ongoing commitment to safety, our customers and the overall community.”
Funding for the project comes from the 2015-2019 MTA Capital Plan and a $26.3-million contract was awarded to DeFoe Corp., a contracting firm based in Mount Vernon.
“Port Chester is pleased with Metro-North’s continued investment in its infrastructure in the village as the new bridge spans will improve the overall appearance in the downtown area,” said Port Chester Mayor Richard A. Falanka.
The construction will transform both bridges by making both safety and aesthetic improvements. Work on the bridges will improve the safety and reliability of the railroad by bringing the existing bridges in line to current design standards. Additionally, replacement of both bridge spans will improve the vertical clearance of the bridges for traffic and emergency vehicles below.
The open deck bridges will be replaced with ballast deck bridges, which will improve the noise made when trains go over the spans making it quieter for residents nearby. The stone bridge abutments, which support the bridges, will be cleaned to improve the overall look of the bridges and surrounding areas.
The bridge spans on the Northeast Corridor are for railroad use only and carry the Metro-North New Haven Line, Amtrak and freight trains. Of the four tracks on the corridor, one track will be taken out at a time to complete the bridge replacements. There will be no impact to customer travel times.
The replacement of the bridges and retaining wall will add to the enhancements already completed by Metro-North in the Port Chester Station which included new entrance signage and LED lighting, new kiss and ride canopy and plaza, a replaced and striped parking lot, and a raised crosswalk providing safer and easy travel from the kiss and ride to the sidewalk on Broad Street.
