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ATTLEBORO - Plans to replace the Olive Street Bridge are scheduled for a hearing this week, but motorists who have to take detours around the closed railroad span should not expect any relief soon.

It will be years before they once again travel over the bridge that links routes 152 and 123 by crossing the electrified MBTA commuter rail line, one city official said.

The hearing, held by the state's highway department, aims to solicit public comment on a design which has reached 25 percent completion.

The hearing is scheduled for 7 p.m. Thursday in city hall.

City Councilor Walter Thibodeau, vice chairman of the council's transportation and traffic committee, said bridge building, especially over an electrified railroad, is a long and complicated process. "It's probably going to take a major amount of time to get it done," Thibodeau said.

A railroad bridge on lower County Street, for example, has been closed for two years and is not expected to be complete until spring of next year, according to MassHighway's Web site.

The Olive Street bridge was closed for safety reasons in March, but that hasn't hastened planning for replacement, Thibodeau said.

It's simply the bridge's turn in a long and winding que of projects to rebuild crumbling infrastructure around the state, he said.

"It's been on the list for replacement for at least 15 years," Thibodeau said.

Nonetheless, the hearing is important because this is the time to seek changes in the plans, he said.

Plans call for the bridge to be shortened from 180 feet to 160 feet. The area affected by construction will run from the Ten Mile River Bridge on the west side, to Ellis Street on the east side, a stretch of about 1,300 feet.

Cost estimates are running about $9.5 million.