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Residents view proposals for Monongahela River crossing
"I look right down on top of it," he said last week at a PennDOT presentation on the future of the bridge that carries Route 21 traffic over the Monongahela River between Fayette and Greene counties.
Farrier said the bridge is needed, even though one of the three alternative routes under consideration would go through his house.
Built in 1925, the 24-foot wide, two-lane bridge was designed for model T's and other vehicles of the time. Farrier said present-day traffic backs up at least five times a day on the narrow span.
Farrier remembers the building, in 1925, of what was then a toll bridge. Back then it led to River Street in Masontown; Route 21 didn't come along until 1953.
He also worked as a toll taker for a time prior to World War II, before the bridge was a free crossing. He said the toll was 25 cents for a car and 10 cents for a horse and buggy.
Melvin Dragich, of Crucible, is another longtime resident who isn't nostalgic about the steel truss bridge. "They can use it for hay wagons," he said.
But the bridge will have to remain as the primary crossing at least until 2005, the earliest date PennDOT believes a new span can be built. After that it will be demolished for scrap.
The new bridge is to be 45 feet higher than the Masontown Bridge, and at 85 feet in width, the four-lane roadway will be 3 1/2 times wider than the current span.
"It will be wide open," said Glenn Stickel, of SAI Consulting Engineers.
The new bridge with its land approaches will be about 1,900 feet in length, compared to about 1,400 feet for the old bridge.
The overall project encompasses three miles of highway beginning at the Route 88 intersection in Greene County, continuing over the river and ending 1/4 mile west of the Route 166 intersection in Fayette County.
Two turnarounds shaped like a C and called "jughandles" will allow for left turns across two lanes of traffic rather than four.
PennDOT and its consultants have been working on the design of the new bridge for a year now, according to Patrick B. Richter, a District 12 engineer and project manager. The plans were laid out at the Masontown American Legion building in a presentation attended by about 80 area residents.
Richter said PennDOT representatives hope to go through the surveys taken at the meeting for a "pattern of comments" that will help them with the final design. Richter said he's already learned some things from comments at the meeting, including a proposal to develop an industrial park on Route 21 of which he hadn't been aware.
Some residents aren't sure about the project.
Stickel said some approached him with concerns that their houses might be taken. Some business owner also expressed concerns about the loss of direct access to their businesses, although a PennDOT representative pointed out that the jug handles would take traffic, at the most, 500 feet away from a business in a turn-around.
Although the need for a new bridge seemed self-evident Stickel said it had to be proven to be eligible for federal highway funds. The price tag is $50 million.
Last week's presentation was the first of a series of public meetings planned on the bridge. PennDOT is also maintaining a Web site on the project at www.rebuild21.com.
The final route onto the bridge is to be chosen sometime this summer.
