N.J. county replacing its longest, and one its oldest, bridges with $47M from feds

The Lincoln Avenue Bridge is neither grand nor spectacular in view, but it's vital to drivers, pedestrians and rail lines in the city of Trenton, officials say.

And it's crumbling.

The rusted, 93-year-old span that connects the city's East and North wards is going to be replaced via $47 million in federal infrastructure money. The funds will complete what's estimated to be a $63 million project, Mercer County Executive Dan Benson announced.

Local, state and federal officials and politicians publicly announced and heralded the plan recently at a press event near the bridge, saying a new span has for about a decade been on their to-do lists, but their funding fell short – about $20 million off estimates.

Now, they have the money to actually get it done.

"For nearly a century, the Lincoln Avenue Bridge has tied together neighborhoods in our Capital City, and by replacing the aging structure we ensure that this corridor remains safe and accessible to Trenton residents for generations to come," Benson said in a statement.

The span, at 687 feet, is the longest Mercer County-owned bridge and one of the oldest too, officials said.

Lincoln Avenue runs only a few blocks but connects Perry Street and North Clinton Avenue in the city's North Ward to Chambers Street in the East Ward.

The span has pedestrian walkways, which many students use to get to Trenton Central High School, about six blocks southeast, and carries gas mains, electrical and communication lines over the Assunpink Creek and several rail lines. It's located just a few blocks north of the Trenton Transit Center.

The bridge also supports electrical catenary – the overhead lines that power rail operations.

U.S. Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman , D-12th Dist., said she and U.S. Sen. Cory Booker had sent letters to the U.S. Department of Transportation urging them to put the bridge in the Bridge Improvement Program, a program funded by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.

In Booker's latest letter, in January, he wrote that the project had a $38 million estimate - $25 million below the current cost. Officials say the senator's letter included the most up-to-date cost estimate at the time, and was based on 2021 finances, and the overall project cost has risen due to construction and material costs.

Watson Coleman said in her letter, also in January, that the bridge had been designated as "structurally deficient and functionally obsolete."

She described a "large thru hole in the deck which is covered by a steel plate," and concrete that is falling off the bridge onto the railroad tracks.

"It also spans Assunpink Creek and an abandoned rail yard that the City wishes to convert to an urban park. It is the direct walking path from subsidized housing maintained by the Trenton Housing Authority to Trenton Central High School. This is an underfunded, regionally significant project that is of considerable importance to a distressed urban community," the congresswoman argued.

Officials say planning is expected to finish in 2025 and Mercer County will be working with several stakeholders, including the city, Amtrak and NJ Transit, and the Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission, and the NJ Department of Environmental Protection.

The bridge will be replaced in phases so that one lane will always remain open, Mercer County said.

Mercer County provided NJ Advance Media with two preliminary drawings of the new bridge.

New Jersey Sen. Shirley Turner, D-Mercer, and Trenton Mayor Reed Gusciora both lauded the funding and project, saying Mercer County residents lead busy lives and they deserve a safe new bridge and an alleviation on the strain of the local infrastructure.

"This funding will not only enhance accessibility and safety for our community, but will also ensure that our infrastructure is equipped to meet the needs of today and tomorrow. We are grateful for this investment in our Capital City," Gusciora said.

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