Jim Thorpe Borough Council says it hopes to announce a completion date for its portion of the Mansion House pedestrian bridge next week.

The pedestrian bridge is owned by Carbon County, and carries the Delaware and Lehigh Trail across the Lehigh River. However, it remains closed until a borough contractor completes a $1 million project to carry the trail around the borough sewage treatment plant.

The project, which was delayed by significant flooding during the spring, involves constructing a retaining wall for a three-quarter mile stretch of the trail located immediately south of the new bridge.

When it is complete, Carbon County will be the first county along the Delaware and Lehigh National Heritage Corridor to have a completed trail throughout.

Even council members want to know when the bridge is going to open. At Thursday’s meeting, Jay Miller asked when the bridge will open.

Borough manager Maureen Sterner said she hopes to have an answer when they meet next week.

Council said Thursday night they would be extending the completion date for their project to Aug. 31. Construction was originally set to wrap up June 30, but they gave the contractor, Don E. Bower, another month, because of poor weather in the spring.

Sterner said the current holdup is due to additional work needed on safety features for the connector trail.

Council President Greg Strubinger said during Thursday’s meeting that the project is completed except for some line painting.

When asked about an opening date this week, D&L officials referred questions to the borough.

In June, they posted an update showing how the site flooded multiple times in the spring, slowing the contractor’s ability to install the panels for the retaining wall.

Trail and Stewardship Manager Lauren Golden said the bridge and connector trail have been designed to withstand the kind of flooding that delayed the project.

The project is being completed with more than $1 million in grant funds awarded to the borough. Department of Conservation of Natural Resources awarded $865,000, Department of Community and Economic Development gave $223,671, William Penn Foundation gave $30,000 through Delaware and Lehigh National Heritage Corridor, and $65,286 came from the Carbon County hotel tax.

The bridge itself cost more than $3 million and was built in Alabama with American steel.

Last June, D&L officials held an opening ceremony for the bridge. Members of the Jim Thorpers bicycle team and riders on the Rails to Trails Pennsylvania Sojourn were the first ones to cross the span.

The bridge has been closed ever since.

Strubinger said Thursday night that the borough is eager to wrap up the project. He said council members visited the site this week and he hopes that they don’t have to grant any more time extensions for the project.

“For all the hurdles it brought, it is a nice project. I think a lot of people are going to enjoy that. We’re hoping to get that of the list,” he said.