Havrede Grace officials and developers will gather near Route 40 today to cut the ribbon on a new bridge, allowing access to 690 new homes planned for a parcel south of Bulle Rock.
The new bridge will span 92 feet over the CSX freight line, providing the sole pedestrian and vehicular connection between Route 40 and the new Greenway Farm development, said Dan Judge, a spokesman for the developer.
Though an access road will create a second entrance for emergency vehicles, the bridge will give the development a sense of exclusivity along Route 40 without being a gated community, Judge said.
The bridge will have an additional benefit of carrying traffic over the rails, rather than creating an at-grade crossing and the associated risk of accidents.
“The company wouldn?t have developed, the city wouldn?t have allowed us to develop, 690 homes with just an at-grade crossing,” Judge said.
Greenway Farm will have a mix of condominiums, townhouses and “villas” ? single-family homes connected in blocks of six ? Judge said.
The former tree farm will be developed in three phases, with the first phase scheduled to break ground in October.
Part of the site?s past as a Christmas tree farm was preserved by saving and re-planting some of the larger trees near the bridge and main boulevard, allowing the company to complete a part of its landscaping before the first home is even built.
Though surrounded on three sides by the Bulle Rock golf course and the associated development, Greenway Farm is not related to that project, and is instead being built by New Jersey-based K. Hovnanian Homes.
The bridge being dedicated Friday is the first such structure built in Havre de Grace entirely by a developer, Judge said, and is designed to look like an older stone bridge.
After today?s dedication by Havre de Grace Mayor John Corerri, Harford County Executive David Craig and K. Hovnanian regional president Hugo DeCesaris, a “Bash on the Bridge” event will be held Saturday with food, music and representatives from the Baltimore Ravens.
