The old Ninth Street drawbridge will close Monday morning (Sept. 12) as work crews prepare to demolish it.

Traffic will return to one lane in each direction on the Route 52 causeway as construction crews move to the final stages of a $400 million reconstruction project, according to Tim Greeley, spokesperson for the state Department of Transportation.

One inbound and one outbound lane of traffic will share the new fixed-span bridge (adjacent to the old Ninth Street drawbridge) that accommodated two inbound lanes this summer.

The demolition of the old Ninth Street Bridge will make room for the completion of a second fixed span beside the existing one.

The new twin spans leading to Ocean City will serve as a bookend to another set of new spans leading to Somers Point at the opposite end of a new elevated two-mile causeway. The work is part of a six-year project to replace the main route to Ocean City and the two aging drawbridges that are part of the old causeway.

The new bridges and roadway work are expected to be complete by May 2012—when traffic will reopen to two lanes in each direction.

Final work on a new visitors center, boat ramps, fishing piers and other enhancements will complete the project by fall 2012.