Moreland Avenue Bridge Replacement Stalled

HATBORO, PA —While the Warminster Road Bridge replacement project may take the rest of the year to complete, the borough's other bridge replacement project is also stalled.

Hatboro Borough Council received an update at last week's meeting regarding the deteriorating Moreland Avenue Bridge.

Borough Manager Diane Hegele told the council that PECO is holding up the bridge project.

She said that PECO was making some minor adjustments on the guidelines before the project goes out to bid.

She said there is no timeline for the bridge construction.

At a council meeting in mid-March, Montgomery County officials told the council that the Moreland Avenue Bridge needed to be replaced. Officials said the span was declared "structurally defective" and has a rating of 4 with zero being the lowest.

The project is expected to take a year.

Tom O'Brien, the county's administrator of roads and bridges, had told the council that nailing down a timetable for the bridge replacement is tricky.

O'Brien said the county had to first acquire right-of-way and then a utility site visit can take 12 to 16 weeks to deal with equipment.

Borough officials have worried about how construction would impact its pool season next summer with the nearby Hatboro Memorial Pool nearby but have been told by county officials that residents should still have pool access.

Beam replacement on the Warminster Road Bridge is expected to start on Oct. 12. Delays on the six-month project have pushed back its completion date until the end of the year, borough officials said.

PennDOT is replacing the 136-year-old concrete-encased steel beam structure with a prestressed concrete box beam bridge that will be 110 feet long and 38 feet wide.

The new Warminster Road Bridge over Pennypack Creek —which connects Hatboro with Upper Moreland Township —will allow for wider lanes and shoulders to improve traffic safety for the estimated 11,783 motorists who travel over the structure daily.