(BEDFORD) – Crews will begin demolishing the bridge on Lincoln Avenue on Thursday.
The bridge is being demolished and taken out, and the area will be converted to a road.
Once the bridge is down, crews will begin adding fill to level out the area, and a new street will be built. Crews will construct a sidewalk on the west side of the new road.
The road is scheduled to be open to traffic on or before August 2, 2019.
Lawrence County Highway Department Superintendent David Holmes is asking motorists to be patient during this process.
Those on the north side of the bridge will have two alternate routes to get to Bedford – drive to Oolitic and take State Road 37 into Bedford or drive to Oolitic and then through East Oolitic and back to Bedford.
The Oolitic Volunteer Fire Department has agreed to respond to fire and medical emergency calls north of the Lincoln Avenue bridge. Bedford Fire Department will also respond, but it will take them a little longer to arrive.
AMR and IU Health Bedford ambulance crews have made plans cover calls north of the construction site. AMR crews have plans to stage an ambulance from 1 p.m. until 1 a.m. at the Oolitic VFD.
Oolitic town marshals or Lawrence County deputies patrolling north of the construction site will respond to any 911 emergency until Bedford Police officers can arrive.
