New Route 5 Charles City bridge opens

CHARLES CITY -- Bid goodbye to state Route 5's old, gapped, sagging span over the Chickahominy River, and say hello to the new Judith Stewart Dresser Memorial Bridge.

The $33.6million span will open to traffic today, the Virginia Department of Transportation said, replacing a balky, 70-year-old bridge that has to swing open to allow boats to pass.

"The drive to Williamsburg will be made much easier now that they have the new bridge," said Charles City resident Doris Slusser. "It's a big help for me.

"They had to open the other bridge and you had wait a long time," she said. "It held up traffic going in both directions."

In 2004, the swing-span malfunctions forced VDOT to close the old bridge several times for safety reasons, and motorists had to detour 63 miles to cross the Chickahominy.

The old bridge will be demolished once traffic is shifted onto the new bridge. The project's completion is expected by July 2010.

A major transportation artery connecting Charles City and James City counties, the new fixed-span bridge will carry more than 3,500 vehicles a day.

The Dresser Bridge is 2,550 feet long and 56 feet wide. With its deck raised 52 feet above the river, drivers and boaters will be able to pass without stopping.

Completed about seven months ahead of schedule, the span features two 12-foot-wide travel lanes and 10-foot-wide shoulders. Contractor Skanska USA Civil Southeast Inc. of Norfolk began work in January 2007.

"We got a quality product," said Tom Hawthorne, VDOT's Richmond District administrator. "We're pleased to provide drivers with a safer and more reliable structure well ahead of schedule."

The existing bridge was built in 1939 using timber pilings and a concrete-and-steel driving deck. The swing-span rotates horizontally to allow boats to pass rather than lifting upward like a drawbridge.

The new bridge is also part of the 54-mile Virginia Capital Trail, an estimated $23.4 million path running between Jamestown and Richmond paralleling Route 5.

The trail will allow bicyclists and pedestrians to cross the Chickahominy River on a 10-foot walkway separated from vehicles by a concrete median. The walkway should be open this summer.

Commonly known as the Barrett's Ferry Bridge, the structure officially became the Judith Stewart Dresser Memorial Bridge after Dresser died in 2003. She was a community activist in Williamsburg and James City County and a member of the Historic Route 5 Association.

Contact Peter Bacqué at (804) 649-6813 or .