Information flows freely when it comes to bridges

AH, DOESN’T THE warmth of the sunshine feel great?

A mere day after lamenting in this space that Pennsylvania’s open records laws “lag behind many other places, putting government watchdogs, journalists and people like you at a disadvantage,” we received good news.

While the open records laws remain a problem, we’re happy to report two moves designed to get information out in the open, where it belongs.

The first comes from Luzerne County Commissioner Greg Skrepenak, who said that commissioners would hold a public meeting to vote on an emergency bridge declaration, rather than relying on a private poll vote of commissioners.

An earlier poll vote was used by commissioners to stop using a Hazleton building due to safety concerns. This led to controversy, as Jennifer Learn-Andes reported Tuesday, especially when Commissioner Steve Urban said he was “misled” about the facts when he gave his poll vote. In addition, the public was not given a chance to provide input.

Skrepenak said that wouldn’t be a problem this time because “everyone” would be briefed about the plan during the emergency meeting, which was held Wednesday afternoon.

A state of emergency was enacted so that the engineer’s office has more freedom to tackle the most vulnerable county bridges.

While the county says it has no immediate safety concerns with its 350 bridges, Skrepenak said the declaration is warranted because the recent Minneapolis bridge collapse has made people “uneasy.”

Because of that, we’re pleased that state highway officials on Monday released the safety ratings on the state’s 25,000 bridges, “reversing a long policy of keeping the information confidential,” according to the Associated Press.

Highway officials had denied requests for the records citing concerns about causing undue public alarm or revealing security weaknesses.

But, in the wake of the Minnesota bridge disaster, the state Department of Transportation reversed its decision.

That’s especially good news because nearly a quarter of Pennsylvania’s bridges that are 8 feet or longer are considered structurally deficient, the AP article said.

Concerned citizens may access the list of state bridge safety ratings – along with a map of deficient, closed or posted bridges – at www.timesleader.com.

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