MARICOPA COUNTY, Ariz. — After nearly two years of construction, a portion of the Gilbert Road Bridge over the Salt River will open on Friday.
Maricopa County plans to open one side of the bridge at 4 p.m. on Friday.
Allen Freeman owns the Orange Patch a few feet away from the construction and said the bridge closure has had a harsh impact on his business.
"We've had two seasons with our corn that with no traffic, and it's been about a 40% loss from a normal year," Freeman said. "The 40% of our customers are the ones that have cabins up north, and they're not willing to go the long way around to come get corn and watermelon."
Freeman said they've also lost customers who would shop at their store after dumping their trash in a landfill nearby.
Kevin Anderson, a lifelong Mesa resident, said he couldn't wait for the bridge to open up because the closure created a nuisance for him and others.
"We've got a boat you try to get to the lake, you can't do any of these things," Anderson.
Tom Herrmann, spokesperson for the Maricopa County Department of Transportation, said the portion of the bridge they're opening will provide a two-way roadway going north towards State Route 87 (Beeline Highway) and coming back in toward Gilbert.
Herrmann noted the $47 million project is one of their largest projects and is running on schedule.
"We're really grateful to the city of Mesa, to ADOT and to the Salt River Maricopa-Pima Indian Community for their cooperation and their their work with us to make sure we could get this project done," Herman said.
Herrmann said the new bridge addresses roadway damage, aging infrastructure and flooding issues so that people heading to and from Fountain Hills and Payson will be able to travel with ease.
"We have pilings here that go 100 feet into the ground to make sure that this is going to be a solid bridge for decades to come," Herrmann said. "Then we rebuilt the roadway leading up to the bridge, the ramps that lead up so that when there's flooding, when there's water in the river here, those ramps will remain open."
Herrmann said the entire bridge is expected to open in the next six months.
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