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BEAR CREEK TWP. — A proposed 2018 road repair project on Bald Mountain Road will be “devastating to the community,” the Bear Creek Township supervisors told state officials Monday.
Supervisor Jim Smith made the comment after a presentation from Pennsylvania Department of Transportation representatives on several upcoming road projects, most of which will have “run-arounds,” or temporary roads to minimize traffic disruptions.
Two Bald Mountain Road projects, however, include road closings.
The most significant issue will be with a slab bridge repair near the road’s intersection with Pittston Boulevard planned for April through May of 2018. This project includes a proposed 20-mile detour. Representatives of the fire company and residents who would be affected by the road closing raised concerns about how much time this will take on small rural roads.
One family said that their young child, who already gets on a school bus at 6:30 in the morning, would be facing an additional 40 minutes on the bus each way. The fire department also said the planned detour would add 40 minutes to their response time. Concerns were raised for the large elderly population in the area as well with delays that might be faced getting an ambulance into the area.
The supervisors noted that this is not a theoretical problem. The township faced this same detour when a storm in late February closed part of the road in the same area. The resulting detour caused a 45-minute delay getting help to storm victims, the supervisors said.
The supervisors asked that the PennDOT representatives relay these concerns to their office heads and revise the plan.
“Take the message back that not putting some sort of access in for our residents is unacceptable,” supervisor Chairman Gary Zingaretti said.
An additional project on Bald Mountain Road involving pipe work will be done this summer between July 4 and the end of August and will also involve closing the road. However, the supervisors felt that this project, which is above the homes located on the road, will not present the same hardship as the project planned for 2018.
Two other projects, one on Route 115 and one on Meadow Run Road, will result in some one-lane traffic and delays, but no detours. The Route 115 project will be done in April and May, while the Meadow Run Road project will run from May through September.
In other business, the board approved a request from the Bear Creek Foundation to construct a new maintenance building and 60-car parking lot at the Bear Creek Community Charter School. In lieu of a stormwater management bond, the foundation will put $12,000 in escrow until the project is completed satisfactorily.
The board also had praise for the fire department and road crew for their response to some recent incidents in the township.
Smith praised the fire department and other local volunteer companies for their cooperative efforts during a structure fire on April 1.
Zingaretti offered compliments to the road crew members, who worked for two days straight during the March blizzard to clear township roads. Zingaretti also noted that the snow removal for the storm cost the township a total of $10,338.