SANATOGA PA – East High Street, the primary east-west roadway that cuts through the heart of the village and across the entire width of Lower Pottsgrove (PA) Township, will be tougher to navigate this spring when it closes to traffic at Sanatoga Bridge for about four months. An exact date for the closing has not yet been announced.
Traffic Planning and Design Inc. (TPD), the Lower Pottsgrove firm hired by the state Department of Transportation (PennDOT) to supervise the bridge’s repair, notified the township in December (2008) that final plans for closing and fixing the structure are under way. Repairs will occur between Allison Drive, on the bridge’s west side, and Sanatoga Road on the east.
One wall of the bridge (see video above; press the play button) is leaning. Minor cracks are evident throughout the 300-foot span, and a new barrier must be erected to keep vehicles from going over a road shoulder. The bridge was last closed for repairs during 2004.
There’s good news: repairs apparently are scheduled to take less time than expected. A closure of up to six months was anticipated. But the detour to get traffic around the bridge work will send drivers slightly farther south, and along a substantial portion of U.S. Route 422, before returning them to East High.
TPD Project Manager Matthew Hickson reports the detour route will be well marked, and that access will be available to all local businesses and residents in the affected area. A Sanatoga landmark, Cutillo’s Restaurant, will be among businesses most affected by the closing. It sits on land immediately adjacent to the west end of the bridge, with one wall of windows overlooking the creek.
- A color map of the detour and affected area, created by TPD and mailed to the township, is being distributed as a single-page Adobe Acrobat document by ‘The Post’ and is available for download here.
- The affected portion of East High Street, also called Ridge Pike, is officially designated as “State Route 4031, Section MRS.”
A letter from Hickson, received by the township Board of Commissioners during its Dec. 18 (2008) meeting, indicates east-bound High Street traffic will be diverted south at Armand Hammer Boulevard, then onto Route 422, and exiting at the Sanatoga interchange to get back to High. The route is reversed for west-bound travelers.
Related:
Related (from the Lower Pottsgrove Board of Commissioners’ Dec. 18 meeting):
- Economic Woes Hit Sewer Authority Wallet
- Township Boards’ 2009 Schedules Announced
- Township Budget Passed, Library Funding’s Back
- Budget Resolutions In The Spotlight
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