CELEBRATING THE SUNSET LAKE FOOTBRIDGE RESTORATION AND REOPENING Ribbon-Cutting Ceremony on Friday, June 23 at 4 p.m.
6/14/17 Asbury Park, NJ – Closed off since 2012’s Hurricane Sandy, a landmark as old as the City of Asbury Park itself is open and ready for the City to enjoy again. Restoration work was completed this month on the Sunset Lake footbridge, connecting Emory Street from Fifth Avenue to Sunset Avenue across Sunset Lake. An official ribbon-cutting reopening ceremony will be held on Friday, June 23 at 4 p.m. on the Fifth Avenue side of the footbridge.
“The bridge has only been open for a week, and it’s already been completely embraced by the City,” said Deputy Mayor Amy Quinn. “People are walking their dogs across the footbridge, incorporating it into their jogging routes, biking across it, and sitting on the benches to enjoy the views with their children.”
“In a city defined by its bodies of water, Sunset Lake is the only one of Asbury’s lakes which is fully contained within the City,” said member of the City Council and the Sunset Lake Commission Eileen Chapman. “We are so delighted to see this footbridge open, contributing to the rejuvenation of Sunset Park and Sunset Lake.”
The footbridge has been closed since Hurricane Sandy, in October 2012. Its restoration was largely funded by FEMA, and included full replacement of the bridge, as well as enhancements to bridge-adjacent parts of the lake and park.
The project represented a chance not just to replace the bridge, but to improve it. While keeping to the FEMA requirement that the bridge be restored to its pre-storm condition, the project was able to enhance the footbridge’s aesthetic appearance, update it for current code requirements, and strengthen it against possible future storm events.
Work began on the footbridge in late November of 2016. The project included demolition of the footbridge, pile driving, new bulkhead installation, construction of the new bridge, light installation, railing and bench installation, concrete site work, and landscaping.
The original construction date for the footbridge isn’t clear, but records exist for the 1888 reconstruction of an Emory Street Bridge, updated to carry streetcar tracks for trolleys running from Deal Lake to the Central Business District. Historic aerial photographs and postcards show the bridge going back to 1930, with a 1945 rebuild to remove the trolley tracks, which were by then out of use. The only documented repair for the footbridge was for a full deck replacement in 2006.