NEW BEAVER TOWNSHIP, PA. PennDOT to award pacts for new bridge

Federal funding will be used to get the bridge work going.
NEW CASTLE, Pa. -- Residents in New Beaver Township don't have to complain to Jim Gagliano about the Hickory Run bridge.
The detour caused by the 1993 closure of the bridge over Hickory Run Creek is part of his daily commute to work.
Gagliano, Lawrence County planning director, told county commissioners Tuesday that the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation will award contracts for a new bridge in August and that construction should start soon afterward.
He said the old bridge was demolished in March, but design changes have delayed construction.
Paden Road in Mount Jackson is open only to local traffic.
This year
Gagliano said construction will begin this year, even though PennDot diverted the $1.2 million earmarked for the project in 2003, and the work will take about a year.
The federal fiscal year begins in October, so 2004 funding can be used for the Hickory Run bridge. The $1.2 million will be used to replace a bridge on Pennsylvania Route 488 in Ellport, he said.
Commissioners approved Gagliano's recommendation that South New Castle and Wampum projects be funded with Community Development Block Grants.
Gagliano presented wish lists from seven boroughs for CDBG money totaling about $500,000, and about $200,000 is available.
Storm sewers
South New Castle will make storm sewer improvements such as catch basins and manholes on Caldwell Alley, South Jefferson, and Hanna streets and Mount and Good avenues, then repave the streets. The cost is $154,564.
Wampum will replace sidewalks and in some places add new sidewalks and curbs on Church Street, from Park Drive to the Wampum Park senior citizens housing complex on Jacob Street.
Commissioners noted that New Castle, Ellwood City, and Shenango and Union townships receive CDBG money directly from the state. Commissioners decide distribution to the remaining communities.