Officials mull fixing bridge for bus use

NEW CASTLE, Pa. -- Lawrence County commissioners are considering repairs to the Hilltown Bridge in Mahoning Township to allow school buses to cross it.
Weight restrictions do not allow anything larger than seven tons to pass over the bridge, and schoolchildren must walk across it to meet the bus, commissioners said.
County Engineer Frank B. Taylor said repairs to the bridge, off of Churchill Road, are estimated to cost $58,000. An additional $15,000 would be needed to bring the weight limit up to a point where buses can cross.
The bridge is to be replaced, but a construction date is not known.
James Gagliano, county planning director, told commissioners he thinks another Mahoning Township bridge, State Street Bridge on U.S. Route 224, is slated to be replaced first. He said state officials have said that work should start in 2006.
"If it's going to be four or five years [to replace Hilltown Bridge], we can't have kids walking across it," said Commissioner Steve Craig.
If approved at Tuesday's meeting, the money for repairs will come from the county's liquid fuels fund -- money taken from the state gasoline tax that must be used for road-related projects.