Repaving Grace Street and rebuilding part of the Cypress Creek Bridge now won’t occur until 2023, according to the Virginia Department of Transportation.

According to VDOT spokeswoman Nina Ullrich, the bridge work was originally set to begin this fall, but postponed due to delays related to the relocation of utilities.

The two-lane bridge, which serves as one of two routes in and out of Smithfield’s historic district, dates to 1975, according to past reporting by The Smithfield Times.

Once construction begins, the bridge will be reduced to a single travel lane, with two-way traffic maintained via a temporary traffic signal. The work, estimated at $7 million as of 2020, entails replacing the beams and deck in the first three spans of the bridge, as well as one additional beam.

The project’s scope won’t include updates specific to bicycle accommodation, Ulrich said. The town of Smithfield has committed a to-be-determined amount of its remaining American Rescue Plan Act funds toward its share of a park-to-park bicycle and pedestrian trail that, once completed, will connect Isle of Wight County’s Nike Park in Carrollton with Smithfield’s Windsor Castle Park. The town’s portion will travel down South Church Street across Cypress Creek.

Anticipating a 2022 start for VDOT’s planned repaving of Grace Street, the town undertook a nearly year-long replacement of the road’s water main, believed to date to the early 1900s when Smithfield’s original water system was installed.

Once the town’s work was completed, VDOT advertised the repaving project but “no bids were received,” Ullrich said. “After modification of the bid package ,VDOT will again advertise the project later this year, with the work estimated to begin as early as spring 2023.”