BRIDGING THE GAP
Span at Union Township crossing taking shape
A crane lifted three 100foot, concrete beams over Route 724 in Union Township on Monday as a longawaited pedestrian bridge over the Schuylkill River Trail inched closer to completion.
“Today was a big day,” said Tim Fenchel, deputy director of Schuylkill River Greenways Heritage Area, which oversees the 75 miles of trail from Schuylkill County to Philadelphia.
The crane arrived Sunday at the bridge location, often referred to as the Monocacy Crossing. On Monday, each beam was transported on its own truck. The first one arrived around 11 a.m. and took about an hour to install, Fenchel said. The beams were placed on bridge abutments.
The Schuylkill River Trail at Monocacy Crossing has been closed since Feb. 1 for construction of the $1.15 million pedestrian bridge. The closure also limits access from the Schuylkill River Trail to the Big Woods Trail.
The bridge is along the Thun Section of the Schuylkill River Trail. It’s a high-traffic area with poor sight distances. To cross Route 724, trail users must descend a steep slope and ascend another slope on the opposite road bank.
Schuylkill River Greenways installed warning signs at the intersection in 2016. Those signs were
paid for by Safe Crossing funds raised through the sale of Sly Fox Brewery’s SRT Ale.
The 17-foot-high span will be named the Richard P. Whittaker, M.D., Memorial Bridge. Peggy Whittaker of Lower Pottsgrove Township donated an undisclosed amount to help fund the project in honor of her late husband.
The Pennsylvania Department
of Conservation and Natural Resources awarded $516,501 for the project. The Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission provided $325,636.
The bridge had been planned to be completed in 2019, but the organization encountered a shortfall of funds due to increased prices for steel. Then it was set back by the coronavirus pandemic.
The crossing between Shed Road and North Main Street has long been a concern of trail users. Decades
ago there was a railroad bridge over the road, but trail users now cross the road. The steep descent from the trail to the heavily traveled road makes it dangerous.
Fenchel said the reopening date will depend on how construction goes but estimated that the bridge would be complete in September.
“We have another month of construction,” Fenchel said. “Now that (the beams) are in place they can start to work on the decking.”