SANATOGA PA – A polite but insistent letter and a little arm-twisting both may have played a part in what is now scheduled to be a public meeting Thursday (June 4, 2009) at 4 p.m. in the Lower Pottsgrove (PA) Township municipal building, Buchert Road, to discuss the fate of the East High Street bridge over Sanatoga Creek.
Repairs to the East High Street bridge a few years ago made it impassable. Photo from PennDOT.
The meeting’s featured speaker – or more specifically, the guy the township Board of Commissioners hopes to put on the hot seat – is Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) district executive Lester Taoso.
Taoso and his King of Prussia-based staff last year announced the bridge, between Sanatoga Road and Allison Drive, would be closed during 2009 for repairs and re-construction. PennDOT’s timing and planned detour, the extent of its repairs, the potential loss of revenue to businesses along East High, and perceived public safety issues all have elicited local politicians’ outrage in recent months.
Commissioners on May 21 (2009) sent Taoso a letter imploring him to “sit down with us so we can put our heads together and come up with an acceptable compromise” on the bridge work. Because PennDOT needs a temporary construction easement from the township for use of its former sewer pumping station property near the bridge, the board also asked township Manager Rodney Hawthorne to squeeze Taoso for a meeting.
Text of the commissioners' letter to PennDOT.
Either may have worked. It might also have been the added involvement of state Sen. John Rafferty and Rep. Thomas Quigley, or separate letters from private citizens, or extensive media coverage. It could even be just a case of the district executive’s attempt at good will. Whatever the reason, the highly sought sit-down with Taoso is on.
Now, Commissioner James Phillips said Monday during the board first of two monthly meetings, the public has to show up too. He effectively begged for a big turnout.
“Now’s the time,” Phillips declared in announcing the meeting date. For about 50 business owners affected by the bridge closure, he claimed, “this is their opportunity. This is the chance to make their case” that PennDOT must leave at least one bridge lane open during the work, or find ways to shorten the construction period.
So far, Phillips added, the township’s pleas for changes have been ignored. Filling the meeting room with concerned taxpayers, on the other hand, could make a difference.
At least, that’s what commissioners hope.
Related (to the East High Street bridge):
- Missing Walks Latest Bridge Complaint
- Will Road Be Closed When School Re-Opens?
- State Says No To Keeping Bridge Open
- Township Looks To Pols For Bridge Help
- Bridge Closing Threatens Businesses, Board Says
- Sanatoga Bridge Closing This Spring
- Bridge Repairs Next Year
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Of primary concern to all of the residents in Lower Pottsgrove should be the fact that emergency ambulance traffic to our emergency center at the Hospital will not be able to pass the bridge location.
As an alternative I would request that the owners of Sunnybrook Ball Room be requested to allow the small bridge to their property over the creek be employed to allow emergency vehicles bypass of the construction site. This could be the only exception for that bridge to prevent damage to it.