POTTSTOWN >> Two recent bridge inspections may mean bad news for paving borough streets this summer.
It’s too fsoon to say for sure, but Public Works Director Doug Yerger confirmed his is worried about the two year’s worth of state liquid fuel funding he has saved up with plans for a big paving push.
The inspections were of the South Evans Street and Moser Road bridges, both of which cross the Norfolk-Southern railroad tracks through town.
“PennDOT has a schedule and they inspect the bridges every two years and we’ve known there were some issues with the Moser Road bridge and we’ve done some repairs trying to hold it together,” Yerger said.
But problems with the metal pads on which the bridge beams sit “are getting pretty rusted out,” said Yerger.
Engineers have been hired to look over the bridge and come up with a list of repairs, and an estimated cost.
“We’re going to have to wait a little while to see how bad it is,” said Yerger. “Hopefully, it won’t require us shutting down the bridge for major repairs.”
As for the Evans Street bridge, that’s a bit more complicated because the borough shares responsibility for maintaining the bridge with Norfolk-Southern, and making repairs to that bridge may not be at the top of their priority list.
“They’ve said to us in the past, ‘Why do you need a bridge every block?'” Yerger said.
Currently, Charlotte, Evans, Franklin and Washington streets all haver bridges over the tracks. All are in some state of disrepair, some worse than others.
“But those bridges are critical to us for emergency vehicles and trash trucks, as well as keeping traffic flowing and the town connected,” said Yerger.
That’s why preliminary talks are underway with Montgomery County to see if can’t use a little bureaucratic muscle to get PennDOT to look at putting those bridges on the region’s master schedule for repair or replacement.
PennDOT is already spending an awful lot of money in the area, and not just on the Route 422 bridge replacements.
In 2012 work was completed on a brand new High Street bridge over the Manatawny and plans are now underway to replace the King Street bridge as well, one block north.
But that’s still the best option on the table, said Yerger, because of the ongoing need for paving the borough’s many tire-worn streets will continue to consume liquid fuels revenue.
If inspections continue to find problems, the first thing that will happen is the weight limits on those bridges will continue to be reduced, he explained.
In the meantime, Yerger is awaiting the results of the engineering study on Moser Road and hoping the costs will not go too high.
“At least with the water and sewer replacement projects the borough authority is doing now, we have some road re-paving going on,” said Yerger, noting about 2.5 miles of borough streets were re-paved last year and 2017 is on track to have about the same amount.
