If all goes as planned, the new bridge over Interstate 195 will be at least partially open by December.

That’s according to State Representative Chris Markey and Dartmouth Mall General Manager Steve Byron, both of whom recently met with representatives from the Massachusetts Department of Transportation, Lynch, Inc., and others involved to discuss progress on that and other road construction projects in the Dartmouth area.

Markey said the Faunce Corner Road project in particular is on schedule, and that a future project meant to widen the roadway on Route 6 at the intersection of Cross Road won’t start until the spring of 2016, giving some time for Faunce Corner Road to move further along.

“We expect that there will be a new span over 195 on Faunce Corner Road by December 1,” said Markey, noting that footings for the span, which will be to the east side of the current roadway, have been put in place. “We expect that there’s not going to be a lot of disruption with the traffic.”

Byron said he requested the recent meeting due to concerns that the projects would overlap and cause traffic problems during the busy holiday season, but his fears were quelled.

“During the meeting, I was assured that would not be the case and that construction would not commence until the spring (on Route 6), which is good," said Byron. "It won’t go into our retail season.”

Markey said the Route 6/Cross Road construction would deal mostly with cosmetic issues, such as decreasing the width of the median currently in the road, as well as repaving and putting in “smart traffic signals.”

“The purpose is to make the roadway wider,” he said, noting that the project will go out to bid sometime near the end of July or the beginning of August.

Both Markey and Byron said all of the parties involved with the project, including MassDOT, the Massachusetts Highway Department, and Lynch, Inc., the contractor responsible for the work on the Faunce Corner project, have all done a good job of communicating with each other in order to keep traffic down in the area.

Markey said aside from times when some of the larger employers in the area let out for the day, traffic hasn’t been as bad as it was when the project began in 2014.

Byron said that once the new span is up, the plan is to demolish the existing bridge and then finish the western side of the span.

“We’ve been assured that the lanes we will have available will be no less than what we have now,” said Byron.

Currently, there are three lanes total going over I-195 — one for traveling north and two for traveling south on Faunce Corner Road.

“Hopefully, in the next 18 months, things will be a lot better,” said Markey.

“We’ve lived with this now for decades,” added Byron. “The end result of both projects is going to be extremely positive.”