$1.24M grant awarded for Sumneytown bridge rebuild
UPPER GWYNEDD >> A big project, with a big price tag, has gotten a bit more manageable for Upper Gwynedd Township.
Township officials voiced their thanks on Tuesday night for a recent grant award announced by local lawmakers.
“Upper Gwynedd Township is a recipient of a $1.24 million multimodal grant, from the PennDOT multimodal grant program. So we are super excited,” said Township Manager Sandra Brookley Zadell.
During talks on the township’s 2021 budget last fall, staff and the township’s engineer targeted a project for repairs on a bridge carrying Sumneytown Pike over a branch of the Wissahickon Creek just east of Church Road. The bridge was built in 1927 and has shown age-related deterioration after flooding in early August 2020, township staff have said, and the engineer has estimated a price tag of $2.5 million for a full replacement.
On Friday, State Sen. Maria Collett, D-12th, announced the award of a $1.24 million PennDOT grant for the reconstruction of that bridge, using funding that originated from the state’s Act 89 of 2013.
“This grant will allow Upper Gwynedd Township to improve local infrastructure, protect the safety of our roadways, and bring new jobs to our district as the economy continues to recover from this pandemic,” said Collett in a statement.
Zadell thanked township engineer Isaac Kessler and his team at Remington, Vernick Engineering for their work in seeking and securing the grant, saying the entire project would otherwise have had
to come from township capital funding.
“It’s a huge deal for Upper
Gwynedd Township, and really a wonderful improvement for mobility and infrastructure in our township,” Zadell said.
Other recent grant awards announced by local lawmakers include a total
of $1.4 million in Commonwealth Financing Authority funds for roadway, watershed, and greenway improvement projects in Collett’s district. Those awarded grants from the state Multimodal Transportation
Fund include Upper Moreland Township, which received $575,000 for intersection improvements to the Willow Grove Interchange area, and 727 Norristown Road LP, which received $500,000 for Norristown
and McKean roadway improvements at Spring House Innovation Park.
Receiving grants from the state’s Act 13 Greenways, Trails and Recreation program are the Redevelopment Authority
of the County of Bucks, $250,000 for the Shenandoah Woods acquisition, and Lower Gwynedd Township, $100,000 for the Old Bethlehem Pike streambank stabilization and enhancement project.