Because the South Keim Street bridge may be closed for awhile, PennDOT plans to install a traffic signal at the corner of Moser Road and Industrial Highway.

POTTSTOWN PA – There’s apparently no such thing as a “quickie” in the lexicon of the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation, the Lower Pottsgrove (PA) Township Board of Commissioners learned Monday (Dec. 6, 2010).

In what it described as “an experiment,” according to Manager Rodney Hawthorne, PennDOT has notified the township of plans in coming weeks to erect a traffic signal for increased safety at the intersection of Moser Road and Industrial Highway, on the border line between Lower Pottsgrove and Pottstown borough. PennDOT foresees heavier traffic in the area as a result of the closing of the South Keim Street bridge, less than a mile west.

The length of its experiment? Three years, Hawthorne reported, which seems to cast serious doubt on the state’s ability or desire to repair and reopen the bridge in the near future.

“You gotta love PennDOT,” board President Jonathan Spadt said, laughing.

The bridge was closed to vehicular and pedestrian traffic in mid-October (2010), following an inspection by a PennDOT consulting engineer who deemed it to be structurally deficient. Until its closing, about 9,400 vehicles a day used the bridge to cross the Schuylkill River between Industrial Highway in Pottstown and Route 724 in North Coventry.

After it closed, Montgomery County officials hopefully proclaimed it would take about eight weeks – approximately through mid-December – to determine the extent of repairs needed to the bridge and their costs. That’s already finished, said Commissioner James Phillips, who also is chairman of the Pottstown Area Council of Governments (COG).

The results, COG members learned, aren’t cheery. PennDOT budgeted about $5 million for the bridge work, but repairs probably would cost twice that amount, approaching $10 million. Complete replacement of the bridge is estimated at about $15 million, Phillips said. Given the replacement cost, he indicated, the state ultimately may determine simply repairing the span is not cost-effective.

“It isn’t going to be fixed any time soon, that’s for sure,” Phillips said of the bridge.

Hawthorne said he and Borough Manager Jason Bobst are working out details on which municipalities will provide electricity for, and maintain, the traffic light.

Related:

• With Keim Bridge Out, Signal Coming In To Lower Pottsgrove
• Supervisor Prefers New, Re-Aligned Bridge At South Keim
• Keim Street Bridge To Be Closed At Least Eight Weeks

Related (to the Lower Pottsgrove Board of Commissioners’ meeting of Dec. 6):

• With Keim Bridge Out, Signal Coming In To Lower Pottsgrove
• Township OKs New Fire Police Law, Approves Members
• Township, Moyer Estate Settle Late Treasurer’s Accounts
• Commissioners Meet Tonight, With A Busy Agenda