Trending
Work on a bridge in Armstrong Township could move forward by summer after the Lycoming County Commissioners approved an Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the county and the township at their weekly meeting. The MOU for the Lycoming County Mosquito Valley Road Bridge Project is in the amount of $1.7 million, a mix of Act 13, Act 44 and Act 89 funds.
"We kind of structured this similar to how we did bridge bundling with the county," said Sal Vitko, transportation planner with the county.
The township had reached out to the county for assistance and the county decided to take the lead on the project, Vitko said. The bridge had been rated a four, which is considered in poor condition.
The agreement basically stipulated that the county will put the money forward and then there will be a retro reimbursement agreement detailing how the county will be reimbursed once the project is completed.
Vitko and the commissioners stressed the importance of the project because of the poor condition of the bridge which is on the route to the Williamsport Municipal Water Authority property.
"There's a lot of infrastructure on there. It's the only access for about 40 to 45 residents. The Water Authority uses it to get deliveries for their facility. I believe two water lines come through under the bridge...There's also gas lines that run under there as well to provide gas utility," Vitko said. "If the bridge were to go down or be closed, it would be bad."
The Water Authority is also looking at the memorandum with the township for their component. Vitko indicated that he had spoken with their board and the plan is to have that finalized by the end of the month.
"Then the next steps for us, we'll be getting the scope work finalized and everything over for review to be able to put things out for bid," Vitko said.
"Hopefully by summer, I think, is the plan to have a notice to proceed and have someone under contract to move forward with the project," he added.
"It's definitely a structure that needs repaired and I'm happy that we're finally able to move forward on it," he added.