Traffic 'Mess' With Bridge Closure In Hatboro

HATBORO, PA —Wonder why traffic on York Road is even busier than normal these days?

Three weeks into the six-month closure of the Warminster Road Bridge, the gridlock continues and the detours are not being followed by motorists, borough officials said.

"Hatboro is a mess," Borough Manager Diane Hegele said, in delivering her manager's report to Borough Council at Monday night's meeting, about the bridge closure and other current projects around the borough.

The bridge was closed at the start of the month for its replacement, throwing an obstacle into an already-busy downtown district. But officials said the heavy dose of congestion remains.

"Detours are posted but motorists are not obeying the signs," Hegele said. "They're ignoring them."

She said with motorists not using the detours, they are getting stuck at the bridge closure and must go back and onto neighborhood streets to get to their destinations.

"We're getting a lot of calls," Hegele said.

Many of the calls have to do with when the bridge work will begin. Hegele said that PECO has been out doing utility work at the site, which must be undertaken first before construction begins.

Despite a delay in construction for at least three weeks since the bridge closure, Hegele said the borough has been assured by PennDOT that the work will be completed as planned.

The bridge over Pennypack Creek closed on April 3 with the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation saying that work should last until Oct. 31.

Two detours are in place: One for motorists and one for truck traffic.

The detours are:

• Motor vehicles (Byberry Road, Davisville Road, Terwood Road, and Route 263)
• Truck traffic (County Line Road and Route 611)

Deputy Police Chief Mark Ruegg said that since the closure began, police have bolstered patrols to focus on safety, especially around school zones. He said police received a lot of complaints about motorists cutting off other drivers.

At Monday's meeting, Ruegg said the Hatboro Police Department completed a 30-hour aggressive traffic enforcement and issued more than 40 citations around Horsham and York roads due to the bridge closure.