Bridge reconstruction on South Main in Washington slated for 2025
Courtesy of Nate Kepler
Water from heavy thunderstorms flooded the intersection at Park Avenue and South Main Street in Washington several times in June and July of 2017.
Submitted photo
Flooding has been a consistent problem at South Main Street and Park Avenue in Washington, as shown in this September 2018 file photo. This bridge that takes traffic over Catfish Creek will be replaced in 2025.
A notoriously flood-prone intersection in Washington will be undergoing major reconstruction in a few years in what state and city officials hope will finally fix the problem.
The state Department of Transportation recently shared plans about how the bridge that carries traffic on South Main Street and Park Avenue over Catfish Creek will be rebuilt to alleviate flooding in the area during heavy rainstorms.
The project won’t begin for nearly four years, however, as PennDOT is in the initial study phase to figure out the best way to replace the bridge, which is mostly underground beneath the intersection adjacent to the Judson Wiley & Sons cement plant at the south side of Washington.
“It’s a project that needs to be done, but it will have an impact,” PennDOT spokesman Jay Ofsanik said.
According to PennDOT, the “existing single-span concrete slab bridge on concrete abutments” that was built in 1928 and is under the intersection at South Main Street and Park Avenue will be removed and replaced with a “reinforced concrete box culvert.” Overhead and underground utilities may have to be replaced or relocated during construction.
The project won’t be bid out until December 2024, and construction isn’t expected to begin until spring of 2025. The work will take several months and won’t be completed until the fall of that year.
A portion of Park Avenue, which takes traffic by Cameron Stadium, will be closed for about three weeks during construction. South Main Street at that intersection will be closed for at least 20 weeks while crews replace the bridge. Lengthy detours are planned for truck traffic in that area, Ofsanik said, although local traffic will likely be able to find alternate routes around the construction zone.
The area typically floods during heavy rainstorms, and the intersection underwent reconstruction in 2016 and 2017. That work was part of the city’s ongoing streetscape project to improve the lighting and sidewalks, while also adding two traffic signals and upgrading a stormwater discharge pipe under the road. But the flooding has continued since then.
Washington City Councilman Joe Manning said he’s glad to see PennDOT taking action to replace the bridge after numerous floods over the years. The situation got so bad that Manning put together a “flood summit” in 2017 of area municipalities, the state Department of Environmental Protection and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to figure out a solution to the problem. PennDOT became involved the following year, which apparently ultimately led to the current reconstruction project.
“That was one of the areas we put down and really scoped out … and PennDOT was there with us and talking about rebuilding that culvert and some of the other steps they could take to alleviate the flooding there,” Manning said.
The work will be done in two phases, and the construction will likely impact one of the entrances to the Judson Wiley & Sons concrete plant because Catfish Creek tunnels under the property. Ofsanik said one entrance to the concrete plant will have to be closed, but PennDOT expects to allow the company’s trucks to access the facility from another entrance a few away on South Main Street.
“When we hit that phase, they will be impacted,” Ofsanik said. “They will have to use the other entrance around that corner. The one closest to the intersection will be closed. Traffic (lights) will be put in to make sure they have access and entrance to their property.”
A person who answered the phone at Judson Wiley & Sons on Thursday said the company was unaware of the project, but declined to comment on whether they were concerned if it would impact their business.
There will also need to be discussions about how first responders, such as city firefighters and their large rigs, will be able to access the southern neighborhoods in the city if there is an emergency. The detours currently being designed by PennDOT would be too lengthy for firefighters to access when the intersection is closed to traffic, but Ofsanik said they will discuss various options to ensure homes and businesses south of the construction site are not put in danger.
“Before we get to that point, we’ll be meeting with local officials and emergency departments,” Ofsanik said. “We’ll work with them as much as we can.”
Manning, who served as a professional firefighter in Washington for years before joining City Council, said ensuring that emergency vehicles can access those neighborhoods without substantial delays “absolutely is a concern” for first responders and city officials.
“There is never going to be an easy detour around there. Any detour they would have to construct to get us there … will absolutely cause a delay,” Manning said.
Manning said he expects there to be lengthy discussions to figure out a solution, which he suggested could possibly include staging city fire trucks at North Franklin’s fire department to give them better access to the area. But no contingency plans have been formatted yet since the project is still in the study phase.
“I’m sure they’ll try to find a solution,” Manning said. “It will be extremely problematic to shut off that entire artery.”