Pineville Road Bridge is a Step Nearer Completion

With relatively little ado Wednesday, Buckingham Supervisors took a step forward toward making the construction of a new Pineville Road bridge a reality.

They made some design and material choices at a work session attended by a small group of area residents.

After asking the audience for additional input, supervisors unanimously chose the dark brown "New Hope" stone and a brown concrete beam to run underneath the bridge.

The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation is in the final design phase of the $1.2 million bridge, scheduled to be built in the fall of 2012, according to township manager Dana Cozza.

The crumbling Pineville bridge has been closed since 2007.

Following last month’s lengthy and sometimes heated debate on the matter, some residents were left with unanswered questions that supervisors said they would forward to PennDOT for input.

As a result of the meeting, PennDOT said it would review replacing trees that were removed during construction, as well as review preliminary designs for guiderail lengths.

Resident Jeffrey Chodorow, whose property is adjacent to one of the approaches to the bridge, was concerned about PennDOT’s guiderail requirement, which he said would extend almost to his driveway.

PennDOT officials promised to erect “the minimal guiderails required to maintain safety.”

“Now we can get to the next step,” said supervisor vice chairman Maggie Rash.

Some residents gave kudos to supervisors for keeping the project moving, citing safety factors with the bridge being closed.

Dana Daniels, a registered nurse who lives along Ridge Road, said she sees a lot of ambulance and fire truck traffic now because Ridge is being used as a detour around the closed bridge.

“The size and color of the bridge is completely and utterly inconsequential,” she said, relative to the safety factors involved.

Some residents also questioned the weight restrictions for the bridge and how it would affect farm vehicles and fire trucks from the Lingohocken and Midway fire companies.

While new bridges built to PennDOT standards should be able to handle heavier traffic such as fire trucks, township officials said, questions remained whether a nearby culvert, between the bridge and New Hope Road, would.

“That’s where the weight limitations are really going to be an issue,” said solicitor Craig Smith.

Built in 1918, the Pineville bridge crosses Pidcock Creek. Before it was closed in 2007, it carried an average of 332 cars each day, according to transportation data.

At its last inspection, the bridge's deck was rated a 3 out of 10, while the substructure and superstructure which support the deck both were rated 1.

To view more documents related to the Pineville Bridge project, click here.