Warminster Road Bridge On Target For Completion

HATBORO, PA —It started in April with headaches for motorists trying to navigate detours to get around the closed Warminster Road Bridge.

Residents were told that the bridge —a major connector for Hatboro with Upper Moreland Township —would be closed for six months.

After three weeks into the project to replace the bridge over Pennypack Creek, borough officials were calling the borough "a mess" as motorists were ignoring the detours and police were out issuing tickets.

But four months into the project, borough officials are beginning to see the finish line ahead. They've been told the bridge replacement construction should be completed on schedule.

"The bridge is gone. There's a giant hole there now," Borough Manager Diane Hegele informed the Borough Council at Monday night's meeting. "They're working on the project daily. It's still on target for the end of October."

The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation announced last April that it would replace the 136-year-old bridge.

"This bridge replacement project is critical to providing a safe and efficient crossing for motorists and pedestrians,” Acting District 6 Executive Louis Belmonte told borough officials at a meeting at that time. “It’s a continuation of our commitment to improving highway safety and enhancing mobility throughout the Philadelphia region.”

Under the contract, PennDOT’s contractor said it would replace the concrete-encased steel beam structure with a prestressed concrete box beam bridge that will be 110 feet long and 38 feet wide.

The new bridge will allow for wider lanes and shoulders to improve traffic safety for the estimated 11,783 motorists who travel over the structure daily.

Other improvements under this project include constructing a five-foot-wide sidewalk for pedestrians, installing new signage, pavement markings, a guide rail, and a pedestrian rapid flashing beacon signal on the south approach, and resurfacing the approach roadways.

Allen Myers, LP of Worcester is the general contractor on the $3,826,888 project, which is financed with 100 percent state funds.

Hegele said at Monday's meeting that the borough has received noise complaints about the project regarding a small generator left running overnight.

However, the contractor informed the borough that it was not using larger generators that would be much louder and that the generator is necessary to keep the pumps running otherwise the project would be delayed.

Because this is a highly trafficked area, the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation developed two separate detour plans for passenger vehicles and trucks.

During the project, the Warminster Road Bridge will be closed to vehicular traffic between East Mill Road and Surrey Lane, officials added.

Two detours will be in place around the bridge closure: one for motor vehicles (Byberry Road, Davisville Road, Terwood Road, and Route 263) and one for truck traffic (County Line Road and Route 611).