Christina River rail-pedestrian bridge moving forward

Plans are moving ahead for a new pedestrian and bicycle bridge over the Christina River that would link a 6-mile long New Castle-area "rails to trails" greenway to Wilmington's Riverwalk.

The bridge section, possibly slated for construction late next year or the year after, would extend existing 10-foot-wide greenway sections already completed by DelDOT and New Castle County to as far south as Del. 273 and Battery Park in New Castle.

Delaware's Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control began taking public comment Wednesday on cleanup and environmental restrictions needed during and after bridge construction.

The span and most of the entire New Castle greenway follow what is now a state-owned stretch of an idle Penn Central Railroad line taken out of service in 1975, with the original rail crossing of the river removed in 1984.

A first, short section of the trail opened in 2005, but serious construction began in 2010, with allocation of federal Recovery Act funds to the project. Later, New Castle County constructed a 1.3-mile stretch between I-295 and the Christina.

Baltimore-based WRA, designer for the trail project, described the river crossing as "the final and most difficult portion" of the greenway, with required crossings of a major waterway, an active rail line and "extensive" wetland stretches, mainly associated with the Russell Peterson Urban Wildlife Refuge.

Some 4,000 feet of bridge will be required overall, although the entire trail will eventually require users to directly cross only two roads.

WILMAPCO, the regional transportation planning and coordinating agency for New Castle County, lists the project cost for the river-crossing section at $12.7 million, with 80 percent covered by the Federal Highway Administration.

The river-crossing section, WILMAPCO said in its transportation plan, will complete "a safe, direct, paved and nearly uninterrupted non-motorized travel route extending 6 miles between Wilmington and New Castle.

"In addition to being an important transportation and recreational route, the Industrial Track Greenway will serve significant public health and economic development purposes," the agency noted.

Supporters of the project have described it as an important connection in a 2,500-mile East Coast greenway connecting Maine and Florida.

Contact Jeff Montgomery at (302) 463-3344 or jmontgomery@delawareonline.com