Marion Street Bridge paving finished nearly month early

SALEM – No more detours! The Marion Street Bridge repaving project is done – almost a month early. That means the nighttime detours are over for mid-valley travelers who use this vital connection in Salem. This year’s work included not only repaving the damaged surface, but also creating a waterproof surface to help prevent water from entering, freezing and cracking the pavement. The $6.95 million project restores and protects the bridge surface for years to come. We last paved this 1954 bridge in 2011. To limit impacts, we worked at night during the least busy travel times – usually 8 p.m. to 7 a.m., Sunday night through Friday morning each week. The project began on July 25 and was originally scheduled to be complete by November. The bridge never closed, but traffic was detoured during work hours. Crews worked on different parts of the bridge each night, requiring two detour routes depending on what was being done. This approach helped us get the work done ahead of schedule.