From the Tennessean, 3/31/11:
Work is underway on the new state-funded State Route 109 bridge that spans the Cumberland River between Sumner and Wilson counties.
The site is being graded and cleared while workers prepare the foundation for the columns of the bridge. Officials are still finalizing the right-of-way acquisition process, which has affected how much clearing can be done right now, according to information supplied to the City of Gallatin from the Tennessee Department of Transportation.
Traffic will not be affected until the first two lanes of the new bridge are completed, which is expected sometime in the second year of construction in 2012. Vehicles will be shifted to the new bridge while the rest of the work is completed, and the old bridge will be demolished.
District 44 State Rep. Mike McDonald (D-Portland) has been involved with the entire 109-corridor project since its inception.
“I’ve had constituents for years complain how narrow and unsafe the old bridge is,” he said in a phone interview Wednesday. “A lot of people are almost afraid to go over it.”
The bridge is just one component of a major update to State Route 109, which is being expanded to a four-lane highway stretching from Interstate 65 just south of the state line to Interstate 40 in Wilson County. The finished bridge will also handle four lanes of traffic, with a fifth emergency lane in the middle.
The bridge was put out for bid in October 2010, and the $29.5 million contract was awarded to Mt. Juliet-based Mountain States Contractors, LLC. The estimated completion date is Oct. 31, 2013.
McDonald said when the project is completed it will be “a bridge that will last for generations.”
The official start date of the project was Jan. 12.
