A car crosses the Pruss Hill Road bridge, which has been restricted to one lane of traffic

SANATOGA PA – Truckers and bus drivers, beware. Members of the Lower Pottsgrove Police Department were officially empowered Monday (March 5, 2012) to welcome you after your banned vehicles cross the now one-lane bridge on Pruss Hill Road. And, no, those aren’t greeting cards the officers likely will be handing out.

It’s taken awhile to get everything in place at the bridge to ensure driver safety, after it was declared structurally unsound last September (2011) and temporarily closed to traffic. The township Board of Commissioners agreed just before Christmas to reopen it, but only when engineers produced specifications to make it stronger.

An extensive and fortified guard rail system was installed. Shiny new stop signs, complete with red flashing lights, were erected on both sides of the span facing traffic in each direction. The bridge, formerly two lanes, was restricted to one. Traffic that could cross was restricted too, to vehicles weighing five or fewer tons. That excludes most trucks except small pick-ups, and it also excludes buses.

All these details were enacted into law Monday night, as commissioners during their first meeting of the month unanimously approved the dual stop signs. Accompanying language gives police authority to ticket drivers who fail to heed them or disobey bridge limits.

Here’s hoping somebody starts paying attention, commissioners joked.

That new guardrail? Manager Rodney Hawthorne reported a driver has dinged it already, in a minor accident that occurred last Friday (March 2).

Those weight limits? Acting Police Chief Michael Foltz said he received several reports in past weeks about bus drivers employed by Custer’s Garage Inc., West Ridge Pike, Limerick PA, who have “been crossing the bridge as a shortcut.” Foltz talked to Custer’s representatives, who he said in turn warned errant drivers of the consequences.

Nonetheless, members of the board audience told Foltz they had seen buses at the bridge within recent days. “I guess we’ll have to remind them again,” Foltz replied grimly.

One remnant of the bridge’s former two-lane status is a double-yellow line that runs through the center of its pavement. At the suggestion of Commissioner Stephen Klotz, so no driver gets the wrong impression, it will soon be gone too … eliminated by a few strokes of a tar brush.

Related (to Pruss Hill Road and its bridge):

• Be Wary Crossing Pruss Hill Bridge; You’ll Be Watched
• As Gift Just Before Christmas, Pruss Hill Road Re-Opens
• Pruss Hill Bridge Could Take Longer Than Expected
• Pruss Hill Bridge To Reopen, But As One-Lane Only
• The Problems At Pruss Hill Lurk Beneath Its Bridge
• Pruss Hill Bridge Might Re-Open With Weight Limit
• Bridge Damage Closes Pruss Hill Road ‘Indefinitely’
• Commissioners OK Pruss Hill Road Accidents Study
• Bridge, Guardrail Study Proposed For Pruss Hill Road
• Stop Sign May Be Answer For Pruss Hill Road Crashes
• Pruss Hill Road Guardrail Now Repaired
• Use Caution Driving Pruss Hill Road
• Car Upended On Pruss Hill Road

Related (to the Lower Pottsgrove Board of Commissioners’ meeting of March 5):

• Be Wary Crossing Pruss Hill Bridge; You’ll Be Watched