By 1980, plans to construct a new bridge for NY 220 over the Chenango River had been set in motion. As planned, a stretch of NY 220 in Oxford would be rerouted to follow the new structure over the river and a Conrail (now New York, Susquehanna and Western Railroad) line that ran along the riverbank. The initial price tag for the bridge was set at $2.262 million (equivalent to $ in ). Construction of the bridge was completed in 1982, at which time NY 220 was rerouted to overlap NY 12 north to the bridge, where it turned east to cross the river and rejoin its former alignment on the east bank.