PennDOT: Limekiln Pike Bridge to Reopen Next Year

Heeding calls to “open up that bridge,” PennDOT officials announced Thursday that the Limekiln Pike bridge connecting Horsham and Montgomery townships would be rehabilitated and reopened by Labor Day.

Many of the roughly 80 in attendance at the  during the public meeting clapped and cheered as the decision to rehabilitate was announced. By a show of hands, most favored fixing it over the other two options, which included a total bridge replacement, as well as reworking the bridge approaches to straighten out a curve. All but the rehabilitation option would take years to get underway, PennDOT officials said.

“We can always leave that for another day,” Consultant Vito Genua, a PennDOT project manager, said of other options. “We ought to focus on getting on with the rehabilitation and getting the bridge open as soon as possible.”

Bruce Masi, a consultant project manager for PennDOT, said March 2012 is the target date for repairs to begin. During the roughly six-month construction, Masi said both lanes of the bridge would be closed and a two-way detour would be put in place. The bridge has a five-ton weight limit and has been restricted to one southbound lane since May 2010.

Officials said the weight limit would be removed once the rehabilitation is complete.

The rehabilitation, which Masi said would cost about $1.5 million, would give the circa 1838 bridge an anticipated 50-year life. The other options, if carried out later, are expected to cost about $4.5 million, he said.

“It is not ideal, the situation right now with the S curves coming into the bridge,” Masi said. “It can be viewed as warranted to do the larger project.”

“Do what you want later, we want rehab now,” one man said, echoing sentiments of speakers who preceded and followed him.

Pat Kohler, owner of Kohler Farms, which is located about a half mile south of the bridge in Horsham,  and worried that her family-owned farm might have to close.

On Thursday, after PennDOT’s announcement, Kohler said she and her son intended to hang in there while the bridge is being repaired.

“We’ll just have to deal with it,” Kohler said.

In the interim until the bridge can be rehabilitated, Masi said there is a risk that the freeze and thaw that accompanies winter could force the walls on the now-open side to push out. If they protrude far enough, he said the bridge would need to be closed sooner than projected.