New Dover Bridge opens to traffic
<p>State Rep. George Eskridge, R-Dover, right, and ITD engineer Ken Sorensen take an inaugural drive across the new Dover Bridge. (Photo by KEITH KINNAIRD)</p>
DOVER — The new U.S. Highway 2 bridge is now open to the motoring public, although work is still continuing on the project.
“They’re still doing some paving out there and they have some other work, but they’ve moved traffic over onto the bridge,” said Barbara Babic, the Idaho Transportation Department’s Panhandle region spokeswoman.
Contractor crews are working on the new approach into the city on the east side of the bridge. The bicycle and pedestrian path west of Chuck Slough will remain closed until the project is complete, slated for early July.
The century-old truss bridge that used to carry traffic over the railroad tracks at Dover will be dismantled and removed by the contractor.
The $22 million project was funded through the federal American Recovery & Reinvestment Act. Construction began in 2009 and was scheduled to wrap in 2011, but work to stabilize a rocky hillside overlooking the bridge and new highway alignment pushed back the completion date.