GREENE, NY – (WIVT/WBGH) An $11.6 million project to move the Route 79 bridge over the Chenango River is nearly complete.

Signs posted by the Department of Transportation say the new bridge is scheduled to open on Monday August 28th.

The new bridge has been moved about a mile north of its current location and now connects to Route 12 in the Town of Greene rather than Chenango Forks. Once opened, the old steel deck bridge in the Forks will be closed and eventually torn down.

Some residents of the Forks have expressed a desire to see the old bridge remain in place as a pedestrian walking bridge connecting the hamlet to Chenango Valley State Park on the other side of the river.