Route 136 bridge to close, forcing detour
Drivers who regularly travel Route 136 in the area of Route 519 in North and South Strabane townships and Somerset Township will have to find an alternate route for the next month.
The bridge on Route 136 between Route 519 and Eighty Four Drive will close about 12:01 a.m. Wednesday and remain closed until Oct. 5 for a $7.3 million replacement project through the state Department of Transportation. The contractor for the project is Brayman Construction of Saxonburg, Butler County. A marked detour will use routes 136 and 519 and Interstate 70.
Business owners in the area are bracing for the impact.
Marcia Minor Opp, whose family owns The SpringHouse on Route 136 to the west of the closed bridge, had SpringHouse detour signs made to direct customers on suggested routes such as Christy Road and Rankin Road instead of the posted PennDOT detour.
“I will be putting them up first thing Wednesday morning,” Opp said. “It is about a four-mile detour. It will give customers a chance to take the scenic route. They will get to go past our farm and see the cows in the pasture.”
Opp said The SpringHouse reopened Wednesday after the business was flooded Sunday night and will be open throughout Labor Day weekend.
“I appreciate the support of the people in the community,” said Beverly Minor, Opp’s mother. “I am looking forward to October.”
“We start our pumpkin festival Sept. 23,” Opp added.
Sandy Dickinson, who owns Eighty Four Packing, which is located on Route 136 east of the closure, said her customers coming from the Prosperity and Washington areas will be rerouted.
“I will have trouble getting here,” said Dickinson, who lives off Route 18 (Henderson Avenue) north in Canton Township. “I’ve already tried out a few routes.”
The local police departments will be monitoring the effect of the closure on traffic.
“We will see how it goes, but I expect there will be extra traffic on routes 519 and 19,” said North Strabane police Chief Brian Hughes. “We will be doing extra enforcement.
“Drivers who don’t know their way around will probably use the posted detour,” he added. “But local drivers know how to circumvent the detour.”
South Strabane police Chief Don Zofchak said the drivers in this area have been down this road in the past.
“We adjust,” Zofchak said. “The biggest problem are the drivers who don’t really believe the road is closed in spite of the sign. They go, hoping against hope the road is really open.”
North Strabane fire Chief Mark Grimm said he has met with South Strabane fire Chief Scott Reese.
“We have alternate routes planned,” Grimm said. “But the bridge really does need replaced.”