A part of Route 13 will be closed between Townsend and Smyrna to replace bridges over Blackbird Creek.
The closure will start with the northbound lanes on Monday and last 45 days.
Then, the southbound lanes will be closed for 45 days starting the following Monday, September 15.
The bridges on both the northbound and southbound lanes will be demolished and replaced.
The northbound bridge is approaching 100 years of age, while the southbound bridge is already over 100 years old, and DelDOT’s director of community relations C.R. McLeod says they’ve deteriorated over that time.
"Really, one of the problems that we're seeing is underneath the bridges where the bridge abutments sit in the Blackbird Creek, and we're seeing what's happened over decades really, it's called scouring. That's basically where the water really strips away at those support foundations for the bridge," said McLeod.
The project in total will cost $15.4 million.
McLeod says there will be other work leading up to the bridges.
"We're also going to be raising the approaching roadway to these bridges, about nine feet,” said McLeod. “Currently, there's a pretty significant dip as you're traveling on Route 13 in both directions going toward these bridges, and it's really created sight line issues for vehicles that are approaching and going over that hill. We're really trying to eliminate that and improve visibility."
If you take that route south on your commute, DelDOT recommends taking Route 299 in Odessa to Route 1 South and then getting off at exit 199B at the North Smyrna exit, and doing the opposite going north taking exit 136 off of Route 1.
There are no tolls in that area.
