BY KEVIN BONESKE

REPORTER/PHOTOGRAPHER

The reopening of a bridge across the Wisconsin River that has been closed to motor vehicle traffic since late March when Rhinelander’s downtown streetscape construction began is “imminent,” city public works director Tim Kingman said Monday.

Kingman informed both the Public Works and Water/Wastewater committees that the Davenport Street Bridge’s reopening is pending the arrival and installation of traffic lights for the intersection of Courtney and Davenport Street just east of the bridge.

“We anticipate that coming in anytime now – it’s pretty imminent” he said. “It should take about two days to get it up and going. The contractor is alerted of it. We need to get it going. It’s one of the priorities we have in the project.”

Once motor vehicle traffic would resume across the Davenport Street Bridge with the installation of the traffic lights, Kingman said motor vehicles would continue to be able to cross the bridge in late August when traffic would be reduced to two lanes to allow for work to be done on piping underneath the bridge.

“This has always been anticipated, because we had a delay with the pipe supply for what we hung underneath the bridge,” Kingman said. “Later on, we’re hopeful that in the end of August they’ll have this piping in, where they’ll divert traffic onto two lanes on that bridge and still keep the bridge open.”