Lower Heidelberg plans to close bridge. Does anybody care?

Update Feb. 1: It may take another month to close the bridge, Lower Heidelberg Supervisor Deborah Scull said Wednesday. The township must notify the Wilson School District, BARTA, other municipalities, and first responders, she said. The township will order signs and find a permanent barrier, she said. No one has complained about the plans, Scull said.

by Steve Reinbrecht

Lower Heidelberg officials plan to close the bridge on Palm Road because they and Heidelberg officials can’t settle a years-long dispute over how to pay to fix it.

Maybe nobody cares.

PennDOT estimates that about 100 drivers a day use the bridge, which connects Route 422 and Wooltown Road, crossing Spring Creek in the westernmost part of Lower Heidelberg.

Lower Heidelberg wants Heidelberg to pay half the cost to repair the bridge, while Heidelberg has offered to pay 30 percent.

Heidelberg Supervisor Dave Randler said he doesn’t care if the bridge stays closed permanently. Few people live on half-mile-long Palm Road, and a parallel route, Big Spring Road, runs a few hundred yards west.

Why spend taxpayer money when an alternate route is 60 seconds away, Randler asked. He would rather spend the money on other bridges in the township. He expects it would cost about $100,000 to fix the span. Heidelberg has budgeted $30,000 for the project, Randler said.

Lower Heidelberg Supervisor Deborah Scull said she does not have a cost estimate.

The bridge was built in 1973. PennDOT considers it structurally deficient.

The townships share the bridge, though Lower Heidelberg is the “custodian.”

The two municipalities have been talking about repairing the bridge since 2010, both supervisors said.

PennDOT's bridge inspector has told Lower Heidelberg to provide repair plans or close the bridge by the end of January, Scull said.