RHS Bridge Won't Reopen by April 1

A permit the district needs to begin work on the that links its athletic campus is sitting on a bureaucrat's desk, awaiting signature, according to officials.

The footbridge has been after engineers hired by the district deemed structural problems had worsened since first discovered in 2009. District by April 1, but Monday night Superintendent Daniel Fishbein said it just wasn't going to happen.

Once the DEP hands over the "wetlands permit" that allows the contractor to step foot in the Ho-Ho-Kus Brook to make some of the repairs, that should all change. Fishbein said the proposed work should improve the flooding conditions, though the bridge won't be raised.

Students and athletes typically use the bridge as the natural cut-through from the main campus to Stevens Field or the Graydon parking lot. Since the closure they've had to walk along the streets (or through neighbor lawns or by traversing the closed bridge, in some cases).

The DEP had been at the high school investigating claims the district has not properly maintained its facilities and has a report forthcoming, school officials said Monday at the school board meeting.

The bridge bid is already in, Fishbein said, and $100,000 has been budgeted for the repair in the upcoming budget.

It's unclear when the DEP will sign the permit.