What's the Latest on the Pelham Island Bridge?

In our "You Ask, Patch Answers" column, we track down answers to the questions you email us, post on our Facebook page, or even ask in person when you spot Patch out an about in town.

Here's the latest question: Any idea when the Pelham Island Bridge will reopen?

Pelham Island resident Gary Slep has been keeping both his neighbors and the media up to date on the bridge's progress. According to Slep, the latest estimate is opening the bridge on our about Dec. 22.

Here's Slep's update in full:

Work is proceeding on the Sudbury River bridge on Pelham Island Road for a planned December opening – on or about Dec. 22.

The base and binder layers of asphalt have been laid and rolled, and are ready for traffic. The finish layer will be postponed until spring, 2013.

In the past few days, crews have installed the wooden posts for the guard rails along Pelham Island Road, scraped the road in the work area, poured the concrete sidewalk, and done most of the landscaping, including seeding. Today NStar has been busy installing three utility poles on the east side of the bridge, and next week they will move the 7,900 volt transmission line and the neutral wire from the downstream side of the bridge to the new poles on the upstream side. National Grid has a contractor on site preparing to reset the gas transmission line. That work will continue next week and must be completed before the temporary gas line can be removed from the utility bridge and that bypass bridge removed from the site. As soon as the NStar wires are relocated, Verizon, Comcast, and the Wayland Fire Department will relocate their wires & cables to the new utility poles. The contractor, AA Will, plans to install the guard rails on the new posts in a couple of weeks. Those steps must be completed before the December bridge opening.