Silver Spring detour to begin Monday in Eldred
On Monday, a major road in Monroe County will be closed for bridge replacement.
Silver Spring Boulevard in Eldred Township will be closed to traffic as Pennsylvania Department of Transportation crews replace the bridge that spans Chapple Creek.
Silver Spring Boulevard is heavily used by motorists who drive from Eldred to Route 209.
Work on the project includes replacing the existing reinforced concrete slab bridge with a precast reinforced concrete box culvert, new bridge roadway approaches, new guide rail, and new line painting.
The existing bridge will be demolished and a new bridge will be dropped into place. The method requires the road to be shut down completely, but in the long run means that the project can be completed much faster.
Grace Industries Inc. of Bath is the general contractor on the $489,561 project that is expected to be complete in late July.
The Silver Spring Boulevard Bridge was constructed in 1930. It is 17 feet long, and 33.5 feet wide. The new culvert will be 42 feet long and 32 feet wide. This section of Silver Spring Boulevard has an average daily traffic volume of 1,934 vehicles.
The detour approved by PennDOT for those traveling from Route 209 to Kunkletown Road takes the motorist off Silver Spring Boulevard at Molasses Valley Road. The route goes right onto Fiddletown Road and right again onto Kunkletown Road.
Residents have raised concerns over the detour since there is a single lane bridge along the route and a hairpin turn that will be nearly impossible for tractor trailers to negotiate where Fiddletown Road meets Kunkletown Road.
The Monroe County Control Center issued a supplemental map on June 1 that includes three alternate routes. The alternate routes utilize nonstate roads and take traffic through more heavily populated areas, but in some cases are shorter than the routes proposed by PennDOT.
All directions are from Route 209 to Silver Spring Boulevard.
Alternate Route 1 and 2: Turn right onto Carney Road, left onto Kuehner Drive, then turn left onto either Smale Lane of Greenzweig Road back to Silver Spring Boulevard below the construction.
Alternate Route 3: Turn left onto Bollinger Road, then turn right onto Borger Road back to Silver Spring.