SANATOGA PA – A traffic accident earlier this month that caused fire police to re-direct drivers off U.S. Route 422, on to East High Street, and over the bridge that crosses Sanatoga Creek just west of Sanatoga Road, had Lower Pottsgrove (PA) Township Fire Marshal Lew Babel more than a little worried at the time. He remembered thinking, “Boy, we’re in trouble if this happens when that bridge is closed,” Babel said Thursday (May 20, 2010).

Township police department Lt. Michael Foltz, who also serves as Lower Pottsgrove’s emergency management coordinator, apparently is thinking the same thing and has already plotted several solutions.

More than $2.2 million worth of repair work has started on the bridge, just west of Cutillo’s Restaurant. Traffic flow across the span has already narrowed from double to single lanes as a Pennsylvania Department of Transportation contractor, Crossing Construction Company Inc. of Washington Crossing PA, begins preparatory tasks. The bridge is anticipated to temporarily close between June 13 and Aug. 31.

• See a video, above, of weekend (May 21-22) developments in work on the bridge, or watch it at The Post’s YouTube account.

Once the bridge is out of service, PennDOT and its project manager, Traffic Planning and Design Inc. of Sanatoga, intend to detour East High Street‘s westbound traffic slightly south on Evergreen Road at the Lower Pottsgrove-Limerick townships’ border, then west on to Route 422 to Armand Hammer Boulevard, then north on Armand Hammer back to High Street at Pottstown Memorial Medical Center. The detour would be reversed for High Street’s eastbound traffic.

But if 422 is closed in an emergency, according to the emergency management report Foltz submitted this month to the township Board of Commissioners, then:

• The alternative detour would direct westbound traffic off U.S. Route 422 at the Limerick-Linfield interchange. Drivers would be sent south over Linfield Trappe Road to Route 724, then west over 724 and back on to the parallel 422 at an appropriate interchange. The detour would be reversed for eastbound traffic.
• Traffic backlogged or stuck on 422 westbound would be re-routed to the Limerick-Linfield exit, and on 422 eastbound to the Route 724 exit, and then back to follow the alternative detour.
• All detours would be marked with signs. Green arrows will direct eastbound traffic; black arrows, westbound.
• Printed emergency detour maps and directions would be available for distribution to motorists in the event of a 422 closure, and for drivers with web-enabled cell phones directions would be available on the township website, www.lowerpottsgrove.org.

Foltz is scheduling meetings with first responders to ensure they know how the plan will work, and to address their questions, he reported to commissioners. In addition, Ringing Hill Fire Company assistant chief Chris Wilcox, who serves as deputy emergency management coordinator (EMC), and township Secretary Michele Cappelletti, who has been named assistant EMC, have begun training in software and other tools that will help them help Foltz as needed.

Related (to the East High Street bridge):

• Plans Ready For 422 Emergency When Bridge Closes
• Bridge Work Started, But You Might Miss It
• PennDOT To Fine Contractor For Bridge Work Delays
• Traffic Pattern Shifts Ahead At High Street Bridge
• State Says High St. Bridge Repairs To Cost $2.2M
• PennDOT Offer Sanatoga Bridge Work Timeline
• Details Are In That Pesky Paperwork
• PennDOT Set For Meeting On Bridge Work
• 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

Sign up to get The Sanatoga Post delivered free daily by e-mail. Share this article.
See our galleries for photos that appear in The Post. Got news for us? E-mail The Post.