Luzerne County Council discussing agreement to address closed bridge linking Pittston and West Pittston

Luzerne County may end up paying only 5% toward the cost of refurbishing or replacing the Firefighters’ Memorial Bridge linking Pittston and West Pittston, with the rest coming from state and federal funding, according to a proposal up for discussion Tuesday.

The county-owned bridge over the Susquehanna River has been closed since early August due to concerns over a bent eyebar.

Under a new agreement before council, the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation is willing to assume responsibility for the design and construction of the bridge because it would be bundled with the state’s work on its nearby Fort Jenkins Bridge, which was built over the Susquehanna in 1926 and also connects Pittston and West Pittston.

According to county Councilman Brian Thornton, who has been participating in the county administration’s discussions with state officials over the bridge plans:

The state has bundled bridges in past projects when the proximity of the spans means alterations to one would impact traffic flow on the other.

“It’s not efficient to do them separately,” said Thornton, who was asked to get involved due to his past work as a structural engineer.

In this case, the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation came up with multiple options that are still under consideration, including rehabilitating one bridge and replacing the other, rehabilitating both bridges or replacing both bridges.

A town hall meeting will be scheduled, with a target for early April, to present the options to residents in the Pittston and West Pittston areas and seek public input, he said.

An estimated $50 million would be needed to replace both spans, which includes river surveying, design, permitting and demolition of the current bridges, he said.

Assuming this option is chosen and that state and federal funding comes through, the county would be responsible for 5% of the project costs associated only with the Firefighters’ Memorial Bridge, Thornton said. That would equate to approximately $1.25 million in county costs based on the rough estimates, he said.

“I think that is fantastic, and I would hope we could use American Rescue Plan funding for something like that,” he said.

The county has $99.6 million in federal American Rescue funding that has not yet been earmarked for projects.

Thornton said the bridge must be addressed because “local economies are being crippled on both sides of the river” since the Firefighters’ Memorial Bridge closed.

When it was open, the county bridge logged approximately 8,000 vehicles per day, he said. Traffic on the Fort Jenkins Bridge has increased from 12,000 vehicles to 20,000 per day with the county span out of commission, he said.

“It was never built to handle all that volume, and there are traffic snarls on both sides,” Thornton said.

Built in 1914, the 1,500-foot steel Firefighters’ Memorial Bridge was last rehabilitated in 1984 and has long been deemed structurally deficient, carrying a 20-ton weight limit, officials said.

Thornton said there is an “enormous amount of deterioration” on both bridges.

The proposed agreement with the state said the county must continue to maintain the Firefighters’ Memorial Bridge after work is completed.

The state transportation department will have the option to terminate the agreement if it does not receive the federal or state funds necessary to complete the project, it said.

County Interim Operational Services Division Head Fred Rosencrans said he supports the agreement because the county’s contribution would be limited to 5% and work on both bridges would be synchronized to be the least disruptive for motorists.

“This agreement basically takes the responsibility of all procurement and project management out of the county’s hands and drastically reduces the county’s cost,” Rosencrans said.

Overall projects costs will decrease by addressing both spans together, said County Acting Manager Romilda Crocamo.

“Why do separate studies? This is more efficient, cost effective and uniform,” she said.

The agreement is up for discussion at Tuesday’s work session, which follows a 6 p.m. voting meeting at the county courthouse on River Street in Wilkes-Barre. Council must then vote at a subsequent meeting for the agreement to take effect.

Instructions on attending Tuesday’s meeting remotely are posted under council’s online meetings link at luzernecounty.org.