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Luzerne County plans to fix an additional bridge with its $5 vehicle registration fee revenue, bringing the total number of spans to four, according to the new council-approved capital plan.
				Council had agreed to keep the fee until the end of 2021, allowing enough time to collect $2 million needed to obtain a full $2 million match from the state for bridge repairs.
				The $4 million was set to fix three deteriorated bridges &mdash; West Liberty Street in Hanover Township, East County Road in Hollenback Township and the Hillside Road Bridge in Kingston Township, officials had said.
				But last week the administration asked council to add the Pine Creek Road Bridge in New Columbus borough to the roster.
				Vehicle fee funds will be available for the fourth bridge because bids for the West Liberty span came in $289,000 below the estimate, county Operational Services Division Head Edmund O&rsquo;Neill told council. A similar savings is expected when the county bids out the East County Road project, which means the savings from both should free up $500,000 needed to complete the New Columbus one, he said.
				The state Department of Transportation has approved the plan to add a fourth bridge, O&rsquo;Neill said.
				County Manager C. David Pedri stressed he is not asking for additional fee revenue or extension of the vehicle fee. He promised to alert both council and PennDOT and come up with a different plan if the New Columbus bridge costs more than the amount available from the savings.
				If the county failed to add the Pine Creek span in the plans, it would not meet its own required $2 million threshold to receive the maximum state match, officials said.
				The state&rsquo;s $2 million match will cover replacement of the 63-foot Hillside Road Bridge over Toby Creek, which was built in 1970.
				Council unanimously approved both the New Columbus bridge addition and the overall capital plan.
				The plan contains three new projects requested by the administration:
				&#8226; New flashing for leaking windows at the county-owned Penn Place building that are causing damage, $100,000
				&#8226; LED highway safety lighting upgrade on the Cross Valley Expressway, which falls under the county&rsquo;s responsibility due to a 1976 agreement with the state, $100,000
				&#8226; Modernization of the motor system and controls of two elevators at the county prison to address safety concerns, $350,000
				With this additional spending factored in, the county will have $1.34 million left in its capital projects bond.
				The approved plan also lists other past-authorized work that has been completed or is still pending. It is posted as a supplement to council&rsquo;s Aug. 25 voting meeting agenda at <a href="https://www.luzernecounty.org/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/_08252020-1878" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">www.luzernecounty.org</a>.

Luzerne County adds another bridge repair to capital plan