Construction of a retaining wall adjacent to Jim Thorpe Borough’s sewer treatment plant on the east side of the Lehigh River is one of the next steps in a Delaware and Lehigh National Heritage Corridor Trail pedestrian bridge project.

Elissa Garofalo, D&L executive director and Lauren Golden, trail manager, updated Jim Thorpe’s council at a workshop last week on the status of the $3.9 million, 250-foot steel truss bridge, which will link the east and west banks of the river.

“The bridge is not quite finished yet,” Garofalo said. “Some of the final items should be finished up in the spring. We’re hoping this retaining wall project picks up just as the bridge finishes.”

According to Golden, the retaining wall is necessary in order to have an elevated Americans with Disabilities Act accessible grade where the bridge meets the trail on the east side. It will rise 17 feet to meet the bridge level.

“The wall will have the same architectural surface treatment as the bridge abutments themselves,” Golden said. “It is custom designed to match the historic stonework around Jim Thorpe. We are very excited and working to coordinate this with Jim Thorpe’s sewer treatment plant upgrades.”

Garofalo said it would also serve as a giant floodwall protecting the wastewater treatment plant.

Jim Thorpe Borough served as the applicant for a portion of the grant funding being used to pay for the bridge project, and according to Garofalo, the retaining wall would require a $9,000 change order.

She is hopeful, however, that grant funding will also cover that cost.

The borough has applied for a grant through the William Penn Foundation. There is $90,000 available, and the purpose of the grant is to help close existing trail gaps and to make improvements to specific areas of the trail to improve the user experience.

“It was a concern of residents when we became a grant applicant at the beginning that no borough money would be spent on this project,” Council President Greg Strubinger said. “We want to make sure when all is said and done that we have simply been a pass-through agency.”

Golden said the likelihood is very high that Jim Thorpe will receive some of the grant money.

June 11 will be the first crossing and official dedication of the pedestrian bridge. A group making the 2018 Pennsylvania Rails-to-Trails Conservancy sojourn will be among the first to cross it.

“We have 300 cyclists expected to stay overnight on June 10 and leave Monday morning over the bridge to head to Easton,” Garofalo said.