Whitehall Township and Northampton Borough officials have learned the construction of the replacement for the Northampton-Cementon Bridge could begin in spring of 2022. The information was provided via a virtual meeting with Pennsylvania Department of Transportation and its senior project manager, Michael McGuire.

“We are in the final design,” McGuire said. “We expect to put a shovel in the ground by spring 2022.”

PennDOT is still in the midst of completing meetings and preparing documents, which need to be finalized before bidding can be advertised for the bridge construction.

One of the meetings involved Norfolk Southern Railway, which has holdings on both sides of the Route 329 bridge, and an agreement needs to be reached on the location of the Delaware and Lehigh Heritage Trail along Canal Street in Northampton, which then enters onto Route 329.

A 10-foot-wide sidewalk across the new bridge will connect the trails in Cementon and Northampton. The sidewalk will be wide enough to accommodate two walkers or bicyclists side by side, McGuire said.

Demolition of structures will be involved on both sides of the bridge, which crosses the Lehigh River.

On the Northampton side, a dilapidated abandoned house will be razed. Earlier projections suggested the parking lot at the seafood market will be part of the project - that is not so.

On the Whitehall side, a large blue metal structure will be removed. The empty Lafarge Cement Company office building, which has been vacant for several years, will remain. The cement plant itself will not be affected by the bridge construction.

Carrying thousands of trucks and cars daily, the present bridge will remain open until the new span is completed. It is expected construction for the bridge replacement will take place over three years. Although there is no official cost for the bridge construction project, it is estimated it will be at least $30 million, when taking into account the cost of the Coplay-Northampton Bridge and Hokendauqua-North Catasauqua Bridge.

Whitehall Mayor Michael Harakal Jr., commenting that the bridge project is on track, said, “It’s coming.”

Northampton Borough Manager LeRoy Brobst mentioned that although borough officers comment from time to time on bridge projects, “We’re just bystanders,” he said.

Route 329 is known as Main Street in Cementon and as 21st Street in Northampton.