Council to talk about plans for new bridge

By Virginia Ross

NEW CASTLE, Pa. — City council has scheduled a special meeting for 4:30 p.m. Monday to discuss plans for the new Grant Street Bridge.

Lawmakers are looking to act on a measure that would allow the mayor and city controller to proceed with the project.

Construction of the new bridge on the city’s West Side is expected to begin this summer, officials said.

The new structure will replace the old bridge, which has been closed since 2003.

The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation is advertising for bids for the project on the Internet and has announced plans to start receiving those bids May 1. The estimated cost of the project is between $2.5 million and $3.5 million.

Residents from the city’s West Side have converged on city council many times over the past several years inquiring about progress of the project. They have questioned delays and pleaded with officials to see to the project’s completion.

Initially, officials said the new bridge would be completed within two years of its closing — first to vehicle traffic and then to pedestrians — in 2003. But design work was halted in 2005 because of a lack of money.

When the state committed its share of the funding in 2006, design work on the project resumed.

The new bridge, which will span the Shenango River, will have a concrete deck on steel girders and a sidewalk on the north side.

State and federal funds will cover most of the cost, with the city providing $190,000. The city’s portion was set aside in a 2005 capital projects bond issue.