Runyon Creek bridge opens | Eastern North Carolina Now

    Those who live in Washington Park and off River Road can get back to their commute as usual, now that the Runyon Creek Bridge has opened. As of 4:30 p.m. today, rather than having to trek extra miles down Brick Kiln Road and then Highway 264 East to reach town, motorists have been driving straight from Washington Park into the city of Washington near Havens Garden.

An older couple in a Mercury had the honor of being the first "civilians" to cross the completed Runyon Creek bridge. I wish I had a photo of them coming off the bridge. The looks on their faces were priceless.

    After a grueling two-and-a-half hour final inspection, Department of Transportation Resident Engineer William Kincannon made the decision to remove the detour signs and allow thru traffic to cross the new construction spanning Runyon Creek.

    Though the bridge was completed five months before the Dec. 31 deadline, for one year and one month the closed bridge was a mentionable inconvenience for Washington Park and River Road residents, N.C. Highway 32 travelers, visitors to Washington Park and River Road residents and patrons of River Road businesses. Six hundred seven people joined a Facebook group entitled "I wish the Washington Park Bridge would reopen" to trade information and complaints about the bridge's construction.

    The bridge nearly didn’t open today, because of problems identified during the inspection, regarding how the road lays coming off the bridge onto River Road and coming out of Washington Park onto River Road. Nevertheless, Kincannon decided that Sanford Contracting could not be expected to perfect these transition issues, due to what he called a “super-elevated curve”.

    “They could come out here and fix it or tear it up, and I don’t know that it would get any better,” said Kincannon. “There’s a lot of different geometries happening at one time. If you change one, the other ones are going to get messed up.”

    Kincannon is, however, requiring Sanford Contracting to build a guard rail at the West end of the bridge for safety precautions and complete work on the roadway’s shoulder, before their contract will be considered fulfilled.

This truck was one of the first automobiles to cross to newly opened Runyon Creek Bridge. The orange barrels mark the place where Sanford Contracting will soon be building a guard rail.

    Sanford Contracting Project Manager Bobby Culbertson echoed the sentiments of his crew, sitting, standing and pacing in anticipation of Kincannon’s verdict.

    “It’s been a good job, but it’s time now,” said Sanford.

    The design of the new, bright white and gray Runyon Creek Bridge is more pedestrian-friendly, with expanded sidewalks along either rail. A second set of pilings were driven underneath the bridge, in wait for a walkway, which will connect the city boat ramps with Havens Garden.

    “I think it’s one of the most attractive bridges around here," said Kincannon. "They put a lot of work and effort into the rail.”