NEW BETHLEHEM \u2013 Years of discussions have been held about the replacement of the Penn Street bridge over Leasure Run in New Bethlehem, and one final public meeting was held last week to go over details for the upcoming bridge project, which is set to get underway in mid-October.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re at a point we have to bite the bullet and do it,\u201d New Bethlehem Borough Council member Ed Goth told the crowd of about 25 people gathered on Sept. 2 at the New Bethlehem Fire Hall.<\/p>\n
With all property owners near the bridge in attendance, as well as most borough council members, Mayor Gordon Barrows and representatives from the Clarion Hospital EMS ambulance station, Ed Evans of New Alexandria-based Curry and Kepple Inc. provided details of the upcoming work.<\/p>\n
As of last week\u2019s meeting, Evans said the start date for the project is set for Oct. 12, and that there were still two options on the table for the timeframe for the bridge replacement.<\/p>\n
Under the original $890,000 contract, Evans said the bridge would be shut down to traffic for about 20 to 25 days. However, the borough still had the option of going with an expedited timeframe that would cut the closure to 10 days, but tack on an additional $95,000.<\/p>\n
The biggest concern, officials said, was how long the bridge would be out of service for the local J.M. Smucker peanut butter factory, located about two blocks from the bridge. Although an alternate truck route that would bring tractor-trailers along Penn Street in the opposite direction by coming up Brinker Street near Subway and Redbank Valley High School would be in place, Evans said he and his crews would do everything they could to keep the bridge open for the truck traffic as long as possible.<\/p>\n
\u201cI understand the importance of Smuckers to the community,\u201d Evans said. \u201cI\u2019m going to try to maintain their traffic as long as I can.\u201d<\/p>\n
He said that with some changes to the prep work at the site, he believed he could maintain the truck traffic for at least another week under the regular schedule, although he said the bridge would still be closed to all other traffic.<\/p>\n
If his plans worked out, Evans said he thought he could keep the disruption for Smuckers down to \u201c15 days or so.\u201d<\/p>\n
Goth and other borough officials said that while the expedited timeframe would be ideal, the borough did not have an additional $95,000 to speed on the work.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe don\u2019t have that in our budget,\u201d Goth said, adding that the bulk of the bridge project is being covered by grant funding.<\/p>\n
He added that the borough has been \u201cin constant contact with Smuckers\u201d regarding the project.<\/p>\n
Other than forcing motorists to find alternate routes, Evans said the overall bridge replacement should not have an impact on local residents, aside from the noise of the construction at times.<\/p>\n
He told the crowd that the new concrete box culvert bridge was already constructed, and would be brought to the site in seven pieces. The new bridge will be similar in width to the existing stone bridge, and would measure around 11 feet wide and 18 feet high.<\/p>\n
The bridge pieces will arrive on site on the day it is scheduled to be placed, Evans explained. For that to happen, he said the project needs four days of \u201cdecent\u201d weather \u2014 one day for prep work, one day to set up the crane, one day to place the new bridge, and one day to tear down the crane.<\/p>\n
When questioned about other possible detours for truck traffic, Goth said that without excavating an entirely new road, there was no other alternative than the Brinker Street hill.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s the only feasible alternative, he said.<\/p>\n
Don Hosey, representing the ambulance service, which is located adjacent to the bridge, said that there were no EMS-related concerns about the project.<\/p>\n
Goth added that local fire companies have been alerted about the pending closure, and he had even talked with UPS about deliveries in the area.<\/p>\n
Evans also addressed a question about utility services during the work, noting that there would be no disruptions.<\/p>\n
The new bridge will maintain the sidewalk on the south side of the bridge, but officials said the borough did not have the funds to place a sidewalk on the north side.<\/p>\n
Resident Colin Sheffer said the borough should still move ahead with the sidewalk plans on the north side, explaining that it would provide a safer path for children walking to Redbank Valley Primary School.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a once-in-a-century project,\u201d Sheffer said of the chance to add a walkway. Penn Street resident Kevin Johnson added that the school district should consider paying for the sidewalk addition.<\/p>\n
Residents also questioned the impact the new bridge will have on the stream and potential for flooding in the future.<\/p>\n
Goth said that the bridge work does not include any dredging of the creek, but that the borough is pursuing funding for that work.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe rains we\u2019ve gotten recently have been unprecedented,\u201d Goth said.<\/p>\n
Evans added that the new bridge culvert will only be a little wider than the current bridge, so he did not expect any changes to the stream from the upcoming work.<\/p>\n
He added that he appreciated the community coming out for the meeting, and said he wished all projects involved such a gathering to share information before work begins.<\/p>\n
Goth said that after years of talk, it was time for work to get underway.<\/p>\n
\u201cCome Oct. 12, be prepared to see a \u2018road closed\u2019 sign,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"NEW BETHLEHEM \u2013 Years of discussions have been held about the replacement of the Penn Street bridge over…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":282451,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[153,155,154,21450,1725,1883,109080,9628,28,109079,117926,109081,6166],"class_list":["post-282450","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-bethlehem","tag-bethlehem","tag-bethlehem-headlines","tag-bethlehem-news","tag-bridge","tag-bridges","tag-civil-engineering","tag-crossings","tag-new-bethlehem","tag-pennsylvania","tag-spans-architecture","tag-the-j-m-smucker-company","tag-transport-buildings-and-structures","tag-transport-infrastructure"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/282450","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=282450"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/282450\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/282451"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=282450"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=282450"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=282450"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}