On Thursday evening, January 5, 2012, I attended the informational presentation by the PA Dept. of Transportation regarding the Tom McCall Bridge project. After attending the meeting I have come to the conclusion that our local and state government leaders and the paid bureaucrats are totally clueless as to the needs of our county infrastructure.

The proverbial tail (the bureaucrats and hired help) continues to wag the dog (the local citizens). Our paid leaders and bureaucrats continue to decide on what we should purchase with our tax revenues without our input into the projects. They continue to have closed door meetings, excluding the public, and moving projects forward almost to the point of no return.

After the public meeting, I spoke to the PennDOT project manager, who is also the project manager for the Route 903 Jim Thorpe Bridge. She stated that in her "professional" opinion, with which I do not agree, the McCall Bridge problem would be best solved by rehabilitating the present bridge at an estimated cost of between 12 and 20 million dollars. I totally agree with Borough of Lehighton elected council member Grant Hunsicker, who stated that the cost of rehabilitation should be invested in a new bridge, and this must be the project that we the citizens choose to solve current bridge and traffic problems.

The project manager also stated that a new Jim Thorpe bridge, costing approximately 90 million dollars, is the project that it would be correct to undertake first. The new bridge in Jim Thorpe would be located across the Lehigh River, connecting Front and North Streets with PA Route 209 at a point halfway between the Liberties intersection and the west end of the present bridge. The manager stated that,in her "professional" opinion, this would be the best solution to the bridge and traffic problem in the Borough of Jim Thorpe. Again, the tail is wagging the dog and the cart is being put before the horse.

In my opinion, there should be two new bridges built. The first would be a new bridge, lower in height, across the Lehigh River connecting PA Routes 248 and 209 with the new road (Lehigh Drive) which is located on the rail bed, connecting Maiden Lane with the Sewer Plant on the Mahoning Creek. This new bridge would also serve Weissport, thus making it possible for a single bridge cross the Lehigh River to serve the entire Lehighton/ Weissport area. After the new bridge is built, both of the two older bridges could be removed, and the cost of maintaining them could be saved.

The second project should be a less expensive bridge at the same height above the river as the present bridge in Jim Thorpe and located next to and southeast of the present bridge. Because of its location, the new proposed high span above the river bridge in Jim Thorpe would not be used as a walkway in the borough going from the east side to the west side of the river. Also, the proposed high span above the river bridge would not solve any traffic problems in Jim Thorpe and would make it less convenient to travel by vehicle and foot between the east and west sides of the river. A new low span next to the present bridge will be less expensive and the funds saved could be applied to the new bridge in Lehighton, Mahoning Valley and Weissport.

I do not know where the project manager lives or has lived in the past, but she is uneducated and uninformed about the traffic problems in Jim Thorpe and Lehighton boroughs. This should not excuse our local, county and state elected officials if they go along with two severely flawed bridge projects. Both of the present bridge projects should be scrapped before we invest precious additional public money in badly designed bridge projects.

Gerald "Jerry" Strubinger,
Lifelong citizen of our
beloved Carbon County