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KINGSTON TWP. — After 11 years of being closed to traffic, the South Main Street bridge will open to accommodate residential traffic only, Supervisor James Reino said this week.

South Main Street had intersected with Memorial Highway, also known as Route 309, until flooding in 2006 closed the roadway.

Bridge construction is finished but the intersection of South Main and Memorial Highway will not reopen, Reino said.

Kingston Township supervisors unanimously decided this week to restrict the bridge traffic to only those residents and businesses located on South Main.

Reino said the decision was reached after receiving letters from township solicitor Benjamin Jones III, Police Chief Michael Moravec, and municipal engineers. They all stressed the dangers of having the vehicles trying to exit or enter Route 309 from South Main.

Moravec supported the idea to keep the intersection closed based on the police department’s statistical data showing 31 vehicle crashes at the intersection from July 12, 1996, to May 29, 2006.

“There were 19 people injured and two fatalities,” he said, adding from June 2006 to the present, there were no accidents at the South Main and Route 309 intersection because it was closed.

“As a supervisor, our responsibility is to mitigate liability for the township,” said Reino. “One bad accident there could wipe out the township.”

Route 309 traffic will be blocked from accessing the South Main bridge with reflective delineator posts, which are durable and will allow emergency vehicles to drive over them, Reino said. The posts will pop back up after the vehicle passes, he explained.

Moravec said anyone other than emergency vehicles caught driving over the posts would be ticketed and fined.

South Main will have a two-way traffic pattern, Reino said. That will allow residents who live off a dirt section of the road, which runs parallel to Route 309, to safely enter and exit their properties.

“This is the best possible solution,” said Moravec.

The South Main Street bridge reconstruction is complete, but traffic will be limited to residential motorists. South Main Street’s former intersection with Memorial Highway, also known as Route 309, will be closed permanently.
https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/web1_SOUTHMAIN002-1.jpg.optimal.jpgThe South Main Street bridge reconstruction is complete, but traffic will be limited to residential motorists. South Main Street’s former intersection with Memorial Highway, also known as Route 309, will be closed permanently.

By Eileen Godin

[email protected]

Reach Eileen Godin at 570-991-6387 or on Twitter @TLNews.