Community Corner
Rough Roads in Northampton Township
Northampton Patch will add a new spot within township lines each day this week to showcase the area's "worst" road and bridge spots.
Some of the roads and bridges Northampton residents take every day have disintigrated to a point far past being nuisances.
In fact, in a study released by advocacy group Transportation for America, Pennsylvania holds the top spot for the most deteriorating bridges in the country, a whopping 26.5 percent.
“Since the 2007 collapse of the I-35W bridge in Minneapolis, Americans have been acutely aware of the critical need to maintain our bridges,” James Corless, director of Transportation for America, said in a recent statement.
Find out what's happening in Northamptonwith free, real-time updates from Patch.
On March 30, the study titled, "The Fix We're In For: the State of the Nation's Bridges," examined federal data on bridges nationwide.
The finding did not surprise PennDOT officials.
Find out what's happening in Northamptonwith free, real-time updates from Patch.
"We're well aware of our bridge challenges. It wasn't a shock," PennDOT spokesman Gene Blaum said Monday. "We're a large state with an enormously large transportation infrastructure and a rough climate. But we're still making progress, and the situation is much better now than it was a few years ago."
Out of Pennsylvania's 25,000 bridges, Blaum said 6,034 were rated structurally deficient a few years ago. The state's bridge repair program has knocked that number down to fewer than 5,300 now, he said. The Transportation for America study lists 5,906 deteriorating bridges, but Blaum said those numbers are outdated.
Bucks County is home to 198 structurally deficient bridges, Blaum said, part of a total of 550 such bridges in the five-county area of Philadelphia and its suburbs. Of the Bucks bridges, 170 are on state highways, while 28 are local bridges owned by counties or municipalities, Blaum said.
The state has a program that repairs and reinforces those bridges. Blaum said 1,600 structurally deficient bridges are under construction right now, including the Worthington Mill Road bridge.
"Bridges are a priority, and to continue to emphasize and to cut down that number of structurally deficient bridges is important," Blaum said. "Here in our region, more bridges will be coming up for construction this year - we're only in April."
Blaum noted that the rating of "structurally deficient" shouldn't unnecessarily worry drivers.
"If a bridge is rated structurally deficient, it doesn't mean the bridge is unsafe," he said. "There's something about it that needs some repair. But that doesn't mean that it is unsafe."
Inspectors evaluate three parts of a bridge - the deck, which carries the cars and trucks,the superstructure, which supports the deck, and the substructure, the foundation of the entire bridge. Each element is rated 1 through 9, with 1 being worst and 9 being best.
Pennsylvania inspects its bridges at least once every two years, he said. Inspections can be bumped up to once a year if a bridge needs closer monitoring.
The weight limits on worrisome bridges are often reduced if inspectors fear that higher weight vehicles will accelerate the rate of deterioration, Blaum said.
This week Northampton Patch will highlight the bridges in the worst shape and some of the most teeth-rattling spots on the roads. Check back each day for a new location, and feel free to add your own in the comments.
2nd Street Pike: Driving northbound and southbound on Route 232 on the south side of Route 332, drivers might want to avoid the outside lanes. This four-lane stretch of road in the heart of Richboro is torn up along the outer lanes and shoulders. In spots, almost half the lane is eaten up by potholes and other uneven pavement.
Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.