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McCall, PennDOT host public meeting on Rt. 903 bridge project

JIM THORPE, May 25 -- State Rep. Keith McCall and the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation brought together nearly 200 area residents, local elected officials, and project managers and engineers from PennDOT to choose a bridge alignment so engineers can begin design of a bridge to replace the Route 903 span that links downtown Jim Thorpe with East Mauch Chunk.

"Traffic tie-ups around the current bridge are an everyday fact of life, resulting in dangerous backups around rush hour," McCall said. "The current bridge was never designed to handle today's traffic levels, especially during busy tourist weekends.

"The bridge needs to be replaced and we have three viable alignments -- we want the people to decide what works best for them, and I was glad to see the huge turnout at this meeting from people who care about their community."

Engineers at the meeting said that the current bridge is safe, but is quickly deteriorating and will soon require expensive repairs that will not solve the traffic issues.

"If this bridge were to fail and require major repairs, it would mean a 20-mile detour to cross the river -- that's unacceptable when it comes to public safety, and a major reason I'm glad the project is moving forward," McCall said.

McCall began working on the bridge project several years ago, seeking and securing funding during his tenure as chairman of the House Transportation Committee and continuing to push to get the project on PennDOT's schedule in his current role as House majority whip.

McCall said public input will continue once the final alignment is approved and design work begins on the $30 million project. Engineers estimate that construction could begin as soon as 2011.

People who were unable to attend can still comment on McCall's Web site at www.pahouse.com/mccall .