SEPTA leaders, city officials and other stakeholders gathered on Friday, March 27, to mark the start of a major rehabilitation project along the M Line, also known as the Norristown High Speed Line. Starting Sunday, March 29, through Saturday, May 9, SEPTA will make structural repairs to the Brid geport Viaduct, the 3525-foot-long bridge that carries the M Line over the Schuylkill River. According to SEPTA, the rehabilitation project is expected to impact more than a third of the 5,600 weekday trips that passengers take on that line. “The Bridgeport Viaduct is more than a bridge on SEPTA’s M Line,” SEPTA Board Chair Kenneth E.Lawrence Jr. said “It is a true gateway carrying not just trains, but people getting to work, school, and home –connecting Montgomery County to Delaware County and beyond. We are proud to make thisinvestment on behalf of our riders and the residents of Bridgeport and Norristown.” During construction, shuttle buses will replace train service between Bridgeport Station and Norristown Transit Center. The train service will operate as normal between Bridgeport Station and 69th Street Transit Center. According to SEPTA, the Bridgeport Viaduct was built in 1911 and was considered a “state of the art” structure. But now, after more than a century of service, it requires major repairs to extend its life for another 100 years. SEPTA General Manager Scott A. Sauer said the project will be completed in phases to avoid an outage this summer during the FIFA World Cup matches, the MLB All-Star Game, and America’s 250th birthday celebration. “This 115-year-old viaduct is SEPTA’s third-longest bridge, and this work is needed for us to be able tocontinue M service between Bridgeport and Norristown,” Sauer said. Officials said the estimated cost of the project is $55 million, including design, support, and construction. The work includes: Structural steel repairs Concrete repairs to abutments and piers Bearing replacement Concrete deck replacement Maintenance catwalk replacement Repainting of the entire structure Replacement of the Norristown Transit Center stairway According to SEPTA, construction will take about one year to complete, with future outages planned for later this year and early next year. A new M schedule with specific train and bus times is available here. ...read more read less