Memorial Bridge Open Date Still Up in the Air

New Hampshire Department of Transportation officials announced Thursday afternoon they plan to hold the Memorial Bridge opening ceremony on Aug. 8 following several days of inspection.

William Boynton, the state transportation agency's public information officer, wrote in an e-mail, "At this point, based upon what we know at this time, we are sticking with the August 8 date (11 am) for a ceremony to recognize the opening of the Memorial Bridge."

Boynton prefaced his statement by writing this is still subject to change if any other issues come up between now and then during final acceptance testing.

He could not say when the new $89.4 million span would be open to motor vehicle traffic. Previously, New Hampshire DOT officials said that would occur anytime up until the opening ceremony date.

"That’s the goal …but not a certainty. Final acceptance testing has still to occur.  If the bridge cannot open to traffic by the 8th... we may have to look at postponing the ceremony date," Boynton wrote.

The Memorial Bridge opening ceremony date of Aug. 8 was in jeopardy after two traffic gate motors burned out last weekend, which required either replacement or repair by the out-of-state subcontractor that installed them for Archer Western Contractors.

If nothing changes over the next week, the Memorial Bridge opening ceremony would be held on Thursday, Aug. 8 at 11 a.m. It will feature former Portsmouth Mayor Eileen Foley cutting the ribbon of the new span 80 years after she cut the ribbon of the former Memorial Bridge in 1923 when she was a little girl.

In other bridge developments, the underpass of Scott Avenue approach was opened to traffic on Thursday, which means that motorists are no longer being detoured to Marcy Street and Court Street to go downtown.