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By Paul Chasko

After years of waiting patiently, local residents who have used the single lane Rankintown Bridge that interconnects the communities of Nottingham and Peters Township with Finleyville and Union Township and State Route 88 as a corridor to the South Hills are still waiting patiently...well, maybe not all that patiently.

Localand State  Officials at Rnkintownbridge site.

Long lines of traffic are still evident daily on either end of what’s now a heavy construction site, but progress is evident. The preliminary work of house demolition, relocating utilities and raising railroad tracks is nearly completed and the bridge supports and headers are being placed. The road will need to be totally closed in early July to complete the work with detours in place. Depending on who you talk to, completion of the work and re-opening will be in mid-August or early September.

State Representative Rick Saccone, who visited the site recently along with other local officials, made the point that he’d been working on funding and trying to push this project through for five years. “Finding the funds to make this project a reality was difficult, “ he admitted, “but the end is now in sight. People have been complaining about this bridge for so long, I think many had given up. We’ve worked hard through meetings and planning sessions at both the local and state levels and PennDOT has been very helpful through the entire process.”

For most residents, the end of the project can’t be soon enough. Detouring around the construction site will be another headache for motorists, but PennDOT will have signage for the detours in place.

Photo at right:  Pictured at the site are (l - r): Mike Silvestri (Peters Twp.); Heather Daerr (Union Twp.); Rep. Rick Saccone; Tom Mellor (Union Twp.); Steve Parish, Deborah Sargent (Union Twp.); and Paul Chasko (Union Twp.).

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