Last night, Glenn Solt, project manager for Lehigh County, came to the county committee meeting prepared with a twelve page report, and the engineer who wrote it. They testified that the condition of the Reading Road Bridge has deteriorated, the cost of repairing it has increased, but that the cost of replacing it has gone down. Solt is determined to rid Union Terrace of that old stone arch bridge. Never mind that it was completely rehabilitated in 1980, 156 years after it was built in 1824. Never mind that Hamilton Street Bridge is a quarter block north, and a new Union Street Bridge is being built a half block south.
Michael Molovinsky, an Allentown blogger who has previously written about the bridge, accused the county of exaggerating the condition of the bridge and the cost for rehabilitating it rather than replacing it. Molovinsky said the bridge's historic value is irreplaceable, "Let me be frank: Mr. Solt has no feel for history whatsoever," Molovinsky said. "... This bridge cannot be replaced. It's that simple." Colin McEvoy/The Express Times/June28,2012This was the first bridge built west of Allentown, crossing Cedar Creek, on the route west to Reading, and one of the last remaining stone arch bridges. Although I would like to see a stake driven through the project, technical legalese demands that I periodically appear and defend our history and culture. The bridge replacement funds were approved years ago, and the matter at hand is a small contract for engineering studies.
reprinted from 2012
ADDENDUM: I'm happy to report that I would continue campaigning for the bridge, and eventually convinced the County Commissioners to save the structure.
UPDATE JULY 9, 2020: During his time as County Executive, Don Cunningham and his project manager Glenn Solt, managed to demolish several historical stone bridges. Worse, these losses were misrepresented as progress. When Allentown replaced the 15th Street bridge (Ward Street) traffic was detoured over Schreiber's Stone Arch Bridge, built in 1828.
ADDENDUM JANUARY 9, 2025:With the enthusiasm of then county commissioners Michael Schware, Lisa Scheller and Brad Osborn, I was able to save the bridge. Currently, the Union Terrace amphitheater is in the final stages of restoration. A former small pedestrian bridge over the pond run needs to be replaced, to reconnect access from Walnut Street to the park.
Thank you, sir. Future generations who will never know your name will deeply appreciate your service.
ReplyDeleteMM - Thank you for the kind words.
ReplyDeletePlease don't forget former Commissioners Vic Mazziotti, Scott Ott and Tom Creighton who were also commissioners at the time and voted against expending funds to replace the Reading Road Bridge.
In county government, if you're going against something the Executive wants, you need six votes to make a decision stick. All who voted against replacing the Reading Road Bridge were willing to do their own due diligence to get behind preserving it and saving the taxpayers the cost of the replacement.
I'd also be remiss if I didn't mention Rick Molchany, who later filled the position of Director of General Services after Glenn Solt left. While not necessarily a supporter of preserving the bridge, Rick wasn't going to sabotage it and made sure it got the proper annual maintenance to keep it in working order. Rick was always non-political and professional in that regard, despite sometimes enormous pressure from subsequent Executives. I believe he still serves as Director of General Services to this day.
Mike Schware
Although I'm certainly glad that the historic stone arc bridge survived, its companion pedestrian bridge needs a long overdue coat of paint on its steel superstructure.
DeleteYes, it could use a coat of paint. I walk there often, and you are correct.
DeleteNow the question that I don't remember the answer to:
Whose has responsibility for the pedestrian bridge? My recollection is that while the Reading Road Bridge is a county bridge, the pedestrian bridge was put in by the City of Allentown at some point (possibly under the Dadonna Administration).
If that's the case, maybe the city can repaint the pedestrian bridge when they rebuild the smaller pedestrian bridge that connects Walnut Street to the UT pond. That would seem to be the efficient way to do it.
Although I have written posts about the missing walk bridge connecting Walnut St. to UT pond, I know of no plans yet to replace it. And yes, I do believe that the city is responsible for the pedestrian bridge adjoining the county stone bridge.Other remaining issues include the stone pillar by the stage's north side. The creek bank has eroded into the base, which may or may not be a problem, but should be evaluated. Likewise, the pond exit culvert under Union St. is not high or wide enough to prevent flooding Union Street in heavy storms.
DeleteSince you also mentioned other projects like the UT Amphitheater, do you know anything about what's going on with the King George Inn site in South Whitehall Township?
ReplyDeleteI know you and others campaigned hard about a decade ago to save the Inn from the wrecking ball and make sure it would be included in any redevelopment plan. Last I read the developer was asking SWT for another extension (on top of numerous previous extensions).
In any event, the efforts there have given that building a chance at preservation, which will hopefully eventually come to fruition.
I was not involved in that effort to save the King George. The SW commissioners ended up creating a historic designation that only included that structure. At the time of the final ordinance reading, I requested that Wehr's Dam also be added. The township solicitorm, Zator, chimed in that no changes were permissible in a final reading. I learned afterwards that he was mistaken on that point of law. That entire commission was in bed with the Wildlands, including Zator. They only sponsored the referendum about the dam because they never expected it to pass.
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