Efforts under way to save or replace Donora bridge
DONORA – A state lawmaker from the Mon Valley is making a plea to Gov.-elect Tom Wolf to reconsider saving or replacing the Donora-Webster Bridge, a missing transportation route that dealt a blow to the local economy, local officials said.
State Rep. Peter J. Daley, D-California, said he is asking Wolf to place a moratorium on the demolition of the historic span over the Monongahela and work with lawmakers and Donora to keep a bridge in that location.
“We are going to ask the governor and the new secretary of transportation to reopen the discussion,” said Daley. “Donora is the real victim here.”
The state Department of Transportation closed the century-old steel bridge in 2009 because of a deteriorating deck, and set into motion a plan to implode the structure and not build a replacement. Since that time, three banks closed in Donora, as well as a Washington City Mission Hidden Treasurers thrift shop in the downtown.
“The Borough of Donora, it has really suffered with the closing of the bridge,” Donora Council President Karen Polkabla said Thursday.
There were three petitions that gathered 3,000 signatures in support of the bridge, but “of course it fell on deaf ears,” Donora borough manager Dennis Fisher said.
He said PennDOT estimated it would cost $25.5 million to replace the span after it was closed and before state lawmakers increased the gasoline tax to raise money to repair roads and bridges.
“The idea is to tap into that money,” Fisher said. “Maybe things will change.”
Polkabla also credited Rochelle Shoaf of Donora for launching a petition drive to save the bridge at change.org, an effort that has drawn more than 1,000 supporters.
“This bridge is not only a historical landmark, but necessary to save a suffering town by allowing businesses to open back up,” Shoaf wrote on the petition website.
However, PennDOT is moving forward its plan to demolish the bridge before the end of the summer, department spokeswoman Valerie Petersen said.
Petersen said the bridge is “in such disrepair that it cannot be saved,” that PennDOT inspects it regularly over concerns it will fail.