Don’t get too excited by PennDOT asking for your comments on the Milanville Skinners Falls Bridge on Thursday evening at the Narrowsburg Union. This is the 3rd time in recent years they have done this and still taken no action. In May 2022, they published 224 pages of your comments. I read them all. You will be surprised how many people you know, perhaps even you yourself, responded in detail and brilliantly.

So why is PennDOT asking you again to comment on why we want to keep this bridge? What kind of stonewalling is this?

PennDOT continues to take NO action. Similarly, AECom was hired by PennDOT five years ago to handle this issue, and only now have they come up with what they call Stage I, those charts you saw at the Narrowsburg Union on Thursday!! AECOM claims they are “The world’s trusted infrastructure consulting firm, partnering with clients to solve the world’s most complex challenges and build legacies for generations to come.” Just how complex is a decision after all this time on the Skinners Falls Bridge?

How much did PennDOT pay AOCom for what has become a deferment? We do know that in the last five years, to analyze Skinners Falls Bridge options $200,000 was spent in 2020, $400,000 in 2021, $2 million in 2022 and $1 million in 2023. How many more dollars in 2024?

PennDOT claims they are short of money, yet PA has the third highest gas tax in the country, next only to California and Illinois. PennDOT’s annual budget is $8.6 billion, and their 11,000 plus employees make an average of $75,000 p.a., which surprisingly, is higher than the national average!

But according to the 27th Annual Highway Report, Pennsylvania’s highway system ranks 41st in the nation in overall cost-effectiveness and condition, and 46th in structurally deficient bridges.

The Historic Bridge Rehabilitation Analysis report found that, yes, the Skinners Falls Bridge, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places can be restored. This was embraced as good news by preservationists, who have long fought to protect the span that was built in 1902.

PennDOT brags on its website that: “Transportation is the backbone of our society and is central to our quality of life.” It appears, however, that in NE Pennsylvania, and the Upper Delaware region this is not the case.