PORT ALLEGANY — Details about the upcoming bridge replacement project along Route 155 in Liberty Township, near Two Mile, are still murky, as local residents, business owners, and leaders are trying to make sense of what could be a roughly 25-mile detour leading into Port Allegany.
The Liberty Township Supervisors, Port Allegany Borough Council, and local business owners who have been approached by Plenary Walsh, the private partnership firm that is working with the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation on multiple bridge replacement projects across the state, have had a vast disparity between what they say they’ve been told, or what their understanding of the project will entail.
But one thing is clear — citizens at those meetings feel like they are being kept in the dark, especially after a public hearing scheduled for last month was cancelled.
Dan Galvin, public information officer for Plenary Walsh, spoke with The Era on Thursday, and clarified just what is happening with the project.
“We are currently working on what it would cost and what the schedule impacts would be to change from a detour to staged construction (building it one-half at a time),” Galvin said. “If we have to rebuild it with a detour construction time would be about five weeks. If it is going to be built in stages without a detour then construction would take considerably longer but traffic would be able to get through.”
Galvin explained that once a decision has been made, there will be a public meeting to inform the public of the final plans.
But some local residents are concerned the public hasn’t been given an opportunity to express their concerns with the possible road closure and detour.
Turtlepoint resident Frank Stanton and his partner, Susan Sykes, were in attendance at the Port Allegany Borough Council meeting on Monday night. Stanton, a former attorney, told council that he feels the canceled meetings violate due process, and he is concerned the firm will make the decision to close the road without any input from the public.
“If that’s the case, we would have to take it to the courts and file an injunction to try to stop them,” said Stanton.
He explained that a community group has been formed on Facebook titled “We Need To Drive on 155” to inform the public of the concerns regarding the possible road closure, and he and Sykes are planning to hand out flyers and possibly put yard signs along Route 155 to make the public aware of the issue.
Port Borough Councilwoman Kate Kysor spoke up, offering her concerns about public safety if the bridge was closed. She is concerned about getting an ambulance to the other side of the bridge, with a long detour, that could be a matter of life or death.
Councilman Dave Fair suggested that if PennDOT and Plenary Walsh are going to cancel the public meetings, the borough should schedule a meeting, and invite local and state legislators, the public, and the bridge construction firm to the meeting to discuss their concerns.
Borough Manager Bob Veilluex told Fair, “Well, we can schedule a meeting and invite them, but they don’t have to attend.”
Fair replied, “If they don’t, they’d be incurring the wrath of a lot of citizens. We have to do something. We have to take some kind of action.”
At this point, though, the decision to close the road completely for a few weeks, or to replace one lane of the bridge at a time, is in the hands of the construction firm and PennDOT, and there are no plans to hold a public meeting until after that decision is made.
