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Beyond the Byline: Fresh tomato sandwiches and long rides

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JOHN A. ALLAN MEMORIALMuhlerns hold one-shot lead after Day 2

<p>Luzerne County Manager C. David Pedri pointed to the West Liberty Street Bridge in Hanover Township as an example of why the controversial $5 vehicle fee is needed.</p><p>The county must spend an estimated $1 million to replace the span over Solomon Creek because a recent routine inspection prompted a reduction of its weight limit from 16 tons to 3 tons, preventing crossing by school buses, fire trucks and ambulances, Pedri told council last week.</p><p>The Hanover Area School District must change its bus routes until the bridge is replaced, and the county expense is high, even though the bridge is only 52 feet, he added.</p><p>&#8220;That&#8217;s one bridge. We have 300 of them,&#8221; Pedri said.</p><p>The example was raised after Lake Township resident Michelle Davies questioned why the county is &#8220;in the road business&#8221; and the fairness of forcing all vehicle owners to pay a fee for infrastructure only used by some.</p><p>Pedri said he was told the county took over many of its 128 miles of roads and 300 bridges scattered throughout the county during the Great Depression, when municipalities didn&#8217;t have the financial means to care for the infrastructure.</p><p>&#8220;I&#8217;m with you. I don&#8217;t want to be in the road business either, but we are. It&#8217;s our job to maintain them at this point,&#8221; Pedri told Davies.</p><p>County Engineer Lawrence Plesh, who oversees bridges, said the reduced weight limit for the West Liberty Street Bridge was prompted by the discovery of corroded webbing in its steel beams. The bridge technically is on East Division Street, which is part of the continued stretch named West Liberty Street, he noted.</p><p>With an aggressive push, the bridge replacement project may start construction a year from now, Plesh said.</p><p>&#8220;For at least a whole year, there will be no ambulance, fire trucks or school buses allowed. It&#8217;s a hardship because first responders have to take a different route,&#8221; Plesh said. &#8220;This has now, unexpectedly, become a high priority.&#8221;</p><p>Larry Churnetski, who owns Churnetski Transportation, Hanover Area&#8217;s school bus transportation provider, said the West Liberty Street Bridge is heavily used as a school bus route on runs originating in Ashley and Sugar Notch.</p><p>With the bridge off limits, smaller shuttle buses will be required to pick up and drop off students who live near the bridge, he said, stressing the shuttle vehicles won&#8217;t pass over the bridge.</p><p>&#8220;Is it bothersome? It is. It creates a problem that did not exist before,&#8221; Churnetski said.</p><p>Plesh said the vehicle fee revenue will help address a bridge repair backlog because the county typically must come up with its own money or rely on three annual state revenue streams, including liquid fuels, that generate about $950,000 annually.</p><p>Around 180 of the county&#8217;s bridges are considered &#8220;structurally deficient,&#8221; which means they are considered safe for travel but need costly repairs or replacement to meet current standards, he said.</p><p>Only bridges over 20 feet are eligible for federal and state bridge funding, and getting on the state plan is competitive and can take many years because the demand for work far exceeds available funding, Plesh said.</p><p>A council majority had approved the vehicle fee, which took effect Jan. 18, to generate an estimated $1.2 million to $1.4 million per year for road and bridge upkeep, not including an initial state match of up to $2 million for bridges but not roads.</p><p>The state Department of Transportation collects the fee and forwards receipts to the county twice a year, in June and December. The county received its first check of approximately $285,000 in early June.</p><p>Plesh said the state transportation department informed him it will provide the entire $2 million match as long as the county completes fee-funded bridge work in that amount within three years. Based on the first revenue installment, the fee likely would have to remain in effect longer than a year to reach that county spending threshold, he has said.</p><p>Council had added a sunset provision to automatically end the fee if the state is no longer providing a funding match.</p><p>Also during last week&#8217;s meeting, council discussed a proposed plan for Butler Township to assume ownership of a section of Foothills Drive within its borders after the county completes a full-depth reclamation. The project includes infrastructure in Conyngham borough and Sugarloaf Township, and those two municipalities also are negotiating ownership acceptance agreements with the county, officials said.</p><p>&#8220;Hopefully after this project is done, the county will get down to 120 miles of county-owned roads,&#8221; Pedri said. &#8220;We&#8217;re hoping to use this as a pilot program for other municipalities so that they can see what we can do if we&#8217;re able to work together.&#8221;</p><style>
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<div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/web1_Plesh.jpeg">
<div class="neCaption">Plesh </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/web1_Plesh.jpeg</photo0><caption0>Plesh </caption0><photoCredit0></photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/web1_TTL062819Bridge1.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">School buses and ambulances can no longer cross the Luzerne County-owned West Liberty Street Bridge in Hanover Township because the weight limit was reduced due to a recent bridge inspection, officials announced last week. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/web1_TTL062819Bridge1.jpg</photo1><caption1>School buses and ambulances can no longer cross the Luzerne County-owned West Liberty Street Bridge in Hanover Township because the weight limit was reduced due to a recent bridge inspection, officials announced last week. </caption1><photoCredit1></photoCredit1></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Jennifer Learn-Andes</p><p>jandes@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Jennifer Learn-Andes at 570-991-6388 or on Twitter @TLJenLearnAndes.</p></shirttailMeta></div>

New weight limit for Luzerne County bridge highlights need for vehicle fee, manager says