On Thursday afternoon, Oct. 15, the Sellers Avenue Bridge in Ridley Park, Pennsylvania, reopened to vehicles over Amtrak’s tracks. The crossing had been closed since July 2022. PennDOT’s announcement confirmed that the road was open again, a concrete local milestone after years of detours. The same announcement makes clear that the bridge opening is one completed part of a larger project, with some improvements still on the schedule.
CBS Philadelphia reported that the old bridge was built in 1904 and rebuilt in 1952. PennDOT closed it on July 20, 2022, after an inspection found safety concerns, according to KYW Newsradio’s account of the agency’s explanation. The west sidewalk on the new bridge opened to pedestrians on April 28, 2026. Drivers followed on Oct. 15, so access came back in separate stages rather than all at once.
The replacement is a 75-foot concrete box-beam bridge with two 12-foot travel lanes and sidewalks on both sides. PennDOT says the contractor replaced the bridge’s superstructure and added concrete behind the existing stone masonry abutments to increase stability. The $9.8 million reconstruction project is fully financed with federal funds, according to the department. PennDOT credited coordination with Amtrak, SEPTA and state and local officials for delivering a project over an active rail line. CBS also reported that PennDOT added a solid-faced barrier topped with curved fencing while retaining familiar details, including ornamental lighting and plaques. These are the physical changes behind the opening, not just new pavement over an unchanged span.
The closure affected more than the people who crossed the bridge directly. KYW reported that PennDOT had estimated more than 3,400 vehicles used the bridge each day before it closed. The station also reported that drivers were forced onto alternate routes, increasing congestion elsewhere in town. The 3,400 figure is a pre-closure estimate, not a count of traffic returning now, but it gives a sense of how many daily trips once relied on the crossing.
Local business owners described a different measure of the same construction period. In a CBS Philadelphia story published before the reopening, photographer Jennifer Kearney said jackhammer noise outside her studio could disrupt newborn photo sessions. Machele Kortum, owner of Lux & Roses, described parking as tight and said the closed roads were not helping. Both said they hoped the bridge’s return would make conditions better for their businesses. Kearney told CBS she had considered leaving the studio but decided to stay to see the project completed, and thanked clients who kept supporting her during the work.
KYW’s next-day report independently confirmed the bridge was open and described Sellers Avenue as a community connection beside a Regional Rail station. It attributed the 2022 inspection concerns to PennDOT district executive Helen Reinbrecht. CBS’s pre-event story documented the business owners’ perspectives and the planned ceremony, but the state’s Oct. 15 announcement and KYW’s Oct. 16 report are the sources confirming the completed opening.
The reopened span is not the last project milestone. PennDOT says landscaping, lighting installation, traffic signal upgrades and ADA curb-ramp installation will continue through 2027. The agency also describes roadway work on Ridley Avenue, Sellers Avenue/Ward Avenue and Hinkley Avenue, including drainage improvements, pavement reconstruction, hardscaping, sidewalks and signals. Some of that work is complete; the listed remaining items are not.
The distinction matters for accessibility. PennDOT confirms that the bridge has sidewalks on both sides, and that a west sidewalk had reopened months before vehicle traffic returned. The latest state announcement still lists ADA curb-ramp installation among future work. The reporting therefore supports describing pedestrian space on the bridge, but not calling every approach or the entire route fully accessible yet.
The opening gives people a route back, while the sources leave the longer-term effects open. Kearney and Kortum described what they hoped would improve, but the reports do not include post-opening business results or new vehicle counts. What can be said today is direct: vehicles returned on Oct. 15, pedestrians had regained a sidewalk earlier in the year, and the broader construction project has named work scheduled through 2027.
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