Work to replace Parkers Creek Bridge on Centerton Road is projected to begin in late 2027 or early 2028 and take about 14 months to complete.
Burlington County and the Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission are in the preliminary engineering design phase of replacing Parkers Creek Bridge on Centerton Road.
The estimated construction cost is approximately $5 million, and it is anticipated the project will be fully funded with federal dollars.
“While traffic will be detoured around the bridge, all homes and businesses and their respective driveways within the project limits will be accessible,” said county spokesman David Levinsky. “Appropriate signs will be installed during construction notifying the public that the businesses within the project limits are still open. However, there will not be any through traffic over the bridge.”
Full closure will be required during construction. All vehicular traffic – with the exception of local vehicles – will need to be detoured around the bridge, Levinsky explained. The proposed detour route utilizes Hartford, Borton Landing and Creek roads.
The project’s design consultant is currently collecting data and performing analyses to determine the need for modifications of existing signal timings along the proposed detour routes, and is performing necessary traffic counts and turning movements at major intersections within the detour routes.
The data collection and analyses aim to remove or minimize any traffic disruptions during construction. Preliminary design is expected to be completed by the end of this year, with final design anticipated in 2027. Construction is projected to begin in late 2027 or early 2028 and take about 14.
“This project will replace a more than century-old bridge that is substandard with a new bridge built to modern standards,” Levinsky noted. “This will improve safety and functionality and save county taxpayers on expected maintenance costs.”
The county-owned bridge – originally constructed in 1906 by Ferro Concrete, according to historic data the county has on file – is in both Mount Laurel and Moorestown, adjacent to the Laurel Creek Country Club and various commercial properties. It was reconstructed and widened in 1957 and has undergone several major and minor repairs over the years, all of which were completed by the Department of Public Works.
Project goals include correcting the structurally deficient and functionally obsolete condition of the bridge by replacing it; protecting the bridge foundation with properly designed scour protection; eliminating the sub-standard design elements along Centerton Road within the project limits; providing pedestrian facilities along Centerton Road throughout the project limits; reducing or eliminating the occurrence of embankment washout due to roadway alignment, slope, and insufficient storm water inlets within project limits; and providing crash-worthy bridge parapets and design compliant guide rails on all bridge approaches.
Parkers Creek is eligible for listing on the National Register of Historic Places, as the original arch structure was designed by American bridge builder and engineer Daniel B. Luten. It’s about 32 feet long and carries two 12-foot lanes of traffic. The repair project proposes to replace the existing bridge with a single-span, 85-foot prestressed concrete adjacent box-beam structure, supported by deep foundations.
The roadway will be widened to accommodate two 12-foot lanes, two 8-foot right shoulders and a 10-foot shared-use path along the southern side of the project. MASH-(Manual for Assessing Safety Hardware) compliant barriers will be added along both sides of the structure. Additional improvements include softening the western approach curve and adding additional drainage structures.
“Residents expressed concerns about the location of the shared-use path on the project,” Levinsky said. “The shared-use path is being built now in anticipation that it will become part of a larger regional trail through the area that will link to both the nearby Rancocas Pointe Trail at Carlucci’s Waterfront and the county agricultural center.
“That proposed trail will incorporate the bridge and shared-use path in its design, along with other improvements to ensure pedestrians can safely cross Centerton Road to access the path.”
