Lower Milford Moves to Vacate Scout Road Bridge

Lower Milford Township will abandon a portion of Scout Road, vacating the section that contained the bridge permanently removed in 2011.

Township Supervisors approved creating an ordinance to vacate the east and west sides of the road, deciding to leave 20 to 50 feet of road, allowing snowplows room to move snow in the winter.

Whether Scout Road as a whole will be vacated is yet to be determined. “We don’t have the money to [construct] the bridge, that’s all …  At minimum, we have to vacate the bridge,” said Supervisor Michael Snovitch.

A petition by residents living near the bridge was presented to the township at a , forcing the township to take action on the bridge within 60 days.

Township Supervisor Donna Wright, Manager Ellen Koplin and engineers met with a representative from the state Department of Environmental Protection to discuss permitting, cost estimates and construction.

A permit for the bridge, called GP11, allowed a design based on 25-year storm forecasts and would cover state and federal requirements. Four options for a new bridge, including construction and permitting costs, were:

• A poured-in-place concrete bridge, costing around $385,000
• A box-culvert concrete bridge with some portions poured in, costing around $376,000
• A  steel bridge, requiring maintenance every 15-20 years, costing around $312,469
• A laminated wooden bridge, costing around $295,000

“If the money had come in at half of this, I would have been a lot happier. [The DEP Rep] made it seem like it was going to be really cheap,” Wright said of the bridge estimates.

Supervisor William Roy disapproved of creating a bridge for a 25-year forecast, contending it may not withstand harsh conditions. “If they’re designed for a 25- year storm, any one of them could be destroyed by a 100-year storm,” Roy said.

Other designs for the bridge, allowing township workers to construct the structure, were ruled out by DEP, township engineer Michael Smith said.

Supervisors discussed the possibility of a private bridge, allowing walking access to either side of the road. “If it’s a private bridge, it would only be able to be used by that property owner,” said Ann Frey, who owns property near the bridge.

Jim Baker, a resident on the west side of the bridge, informed supervisors of his side of the bridge and what is happening. “It’s becoming somewhat of a dumping ground, which I’m not very happy about,” Baker said.

Koplin spoke with the ambulance corps. “They have no problem with the road as it is …  12 minutes [to respond] is certainly within the time frame of what our own ambulance used to do,” Koplin said.

Supervisors pointed out a list of projects the township would have to undertake in infrastructure maintenance. The cost of infrastructure work was estimated around $450,000, according to Roy. “This is a tough call, but we have $450,000 of stuff we know we have to do. We would have to significantly raise taxes to do all this.”

Supervisors will seek to approve an official ordinance vacating the bridge at its next regular meeting scheduled for June 21 at 7:30pm.