IRWIN, Pa. — The Colony Drive Bridge is a main artery to Route 30 in North Huntingdon Township, but it is currently closed. The Borough of Irwin owns the bridge and is working to find funds for necessary repairs.
“The borough works on a $4.4 million budget. We don’t have the money to fix it,” Councilman Sean Stitely said. “Our office staff is doing whatever we can to try and find funding with the engineering firm.”
Stitely showed our Channel 11 crew the hole in the middle of the Colony Drive Bridge that led to its immediate closure in mid-January. The pavement was falling through the beams just by taping it with a foot.
Nearly a month later, the borough still isn’t sure how much a temporary bridge or a repair might cost.
“We don’t want to throw good money away. If we can use temporary bridge money to fix the bridge and sooner, that’s an option,” Stitely said.
He says the fix is urgent because 220 townhomes sit just above the bridge. Drivers are now forced to use a privately owned road or a several-mile detour to get to Route 30. Stitely told Channel 11 that the owner of the Walnut Ridge Townhomes actually offered to help fund the repairs for his tenants’ sake.
“He did offer up $24,000, which is very, very nice of him, but we don’t know what things cost. You know the bridge could cost $124,000, so we don’t know,” said Stitely.
Chuck lives in one of the Walnut Ridge Townhomes and says the closure has been inconvenient.
“It’s been an inconvenience for me and a lot of other residents up here,” he said. “We have to go down on a road that needs paved, and they’re not paving that. Then we have to go out and hit Route 30, and you can’t make a left.”
Stitely is also the Deputy Fire Chief in Irwin and said this is also a public safety concern and all first responders in the area have a plan in case of an emergency.
“As of right now, with the bridge being out, the delays are fairly short as long as the private property owner still allows us to go through his property,” Stitely said.
Councilmembers will meet again on March 11 to get official numbers from the engineering department.
Stitely said the good news is the walls of the bridge are stable. The repair will be to the beams and decking. The bad news is, it could take 3 to 5 years before they can make the repairs.
The engineering department and borough staff are all looking into funding alternatives to shorten that time frame.
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