Eastbound Railroad Bridge Construction Begins This Summer
Montgomery County’s contractor will begin construction of the eastbound side of the bridge carrying Ridge Pike over the Norfolk Southern railroad, as well as construction of two new eastbound lanes, while Phase 2 continues this summer under the County’s $40 million project to improve travel, safety, and access on Ridge Pike between Belvoir Road and Chemical Road in Plymouth Township.
Verizon completed fiber optic cable installation in late spring, allowing workers to finish building a construction access road to the project site (see right) and complete demolition of the original railroad bridge (see above).
Building the new eastbound section of the bridge structure over Norfolk Southern starts this summer. The County’s contractor has taken the initiative to work additional hours over the summer to ensure that the new bridge is substantially completed by the year’s end. Construction of the new westbound half of the bridge was completed in December 2025.
Extensive underground utility work will also continue this summer now that the new PECO Gas main is in place beneath Ridge Pike (see below). AQUA Pennsylvania will relocate water lines along the eastbound lanes between Alan Wood Road and the railroad bridge. Installation of the County’s new stormwater drainage, curbs, sidewalks, and ADA ramps will progress behind AQUA’s work extending from Alan Wood Road through Belvoir Road.
Construction of a new sanitary sewer for Plymouth Township resumed in early spring following the completion of PECO’s new electric duct bank that crosses under Ridge Pike at Alan Wood Road. Once the new sewer is in place in the early summer, a minor traffic shift will allow the contractor to widen eastbound Ridge Pike between Regal Drive and Alan Wood Road.
PECO has also installed a new duct bank (see below) from the bridge over Plymouth Creek to the Alan Wood Road jughandle. With this new duct bank in place, the County’s contractor will widen the westbound side of Ridge Pike while installing new drainage and several access improvements for pedestrians and the new Royal Farms facility. All access to Royal Farms will temporarily be diverted through Alan Wood Road only as the Ridge Pike team progresses with their widening.
Other work completed this spring included the construction of a drainage basin (see right) to collect storm runoff to help keep the widening of Ridge Pike ecologically friendly. This basin, as well as others along Ridge Pike, will be converted into its final condition later in the project.
The construction team also installed a crash attenuator at the eastbound Ridge Pike ramp to I-476 south, a critical part of the updated infrastructure to ensure the most modern form of safety for this ramp. As part of the improvements to the Plymouth Creek bridge, the County’s contractor completed installation of gabion baskets along the Cross-County Trail (see below). This will help support the future slope wall to be installed between the bridge pier and abutment while keeping the trail free of debris for years to come.
Motorists may encounter lane restrictions on weekdays from 9:00 AM to 3:00 PM and at night from 7:00 PM to 6:00 AM on Ridge Pike during construction. Please visit this website regularly for notifications on when nighttime and weekend work will occur. You may also call 445-266-2826 with any project-related questions or concerns.
The County thanks the traveling public and the businesses along this corridor for their continued patience and understanding during this construction project.
J.D. Eckman, of Atglen, PA, is the general contractor for Section B. Sections A and C are currently under design. Section D of the Ridge Pike Improvement Project was completed at the end of 2024. For additional information on all sections of this project, visit ridgepikeproject.com.