For the sake of public safety and project efficiency, the Thurston Avenue Bridge will remain closed to all vehicular and pedestrian traffic until the connections between the new arches and the existing bridge are completed, the city of Ithaca announced Sept. 28.

The construction should take approximately six weeks to complete, weather permitting.

The announcement is a departure from the original schedule that would have left one lane open for vehicular traffic only during this phase of the project. However, safety officials were concerned that pedestrians would be tempted to use the one open lane, putting them at risk of injury. Monitoring the bridge 24 hours a day is not feasible, the officials said.

"The city of Ithaca, Cornell University and TCAT have agreed it is in the community's best interest to continue the detour as is, until this phase of the work is complete," said Frank Perry, Cornell's Thurston Bridge project coordinator. "This continued closure will help facilitate a much safer work environment and keep the project on schedule."

One-way traffic on the bridge should resume in the middle of November with one sidewalk and one lane of traffic. As construction progresses, the date of reopening will be announced.

Until then, Cornell students, bicyclists and pedestrians should continue to use the signed pedestrian detour that crosses the Beebe Lake footbridge. Cyclists are required to dismount and walk their bikes when crossing the Beebe Lake footbridge and on the sidewalk to Forest Home Drive.

For the next six weeks, University Avenue will be opened for eastbound traffic, East Avenue will remain open for southbound traffic and Forest Home Drive west of Martha Van Rensselaer Hall will remain closed except for deliveries and emergency service vehicles. TCAT will continue with adjusted bus routes.

The bridge will be closed again from March 1 to Aug. 16, 2007, when bridge abutments, approach ramps and the bridge deck will be replaced.

For more information about the Thurston Avenue Bridge Project, contact the City Engineer's Office at (607) 274-6530 or visit http://www.cityofithaca.org (click on Announcements and then on Construction Projects.) TCAT bus routes and schedules are available at http://www.tcatbus.com. Traffic and circulation changes that affect the Cornell campus can be found at http://www.aff.cornell.edu/SpecialConditions/CampusConstruction/.