West side finally clear of bridge closures
The bridge on Penn Street in Butler reopened last week, completing a phase of the Sullivan Run project the city has been pursuing for years.
The road had been closed since the end of February for the project, when Butler City Council announced it would be under construction for a period of eight to 12 weeks.
The project also included reconstructing the Brady Street bridge, which closed in December and reopened in September.
Butler City Councilman Fred Reese announced the Penn Street bridge’s reopening at Thursday’s meeting of City Council, but commented that there is still work to be done.
“We’re going to have to do some additional discussions with the paving company,” Reese said Thursday. “It’s not paved the way we asked them to; there’s going to be puddles and they didn’t put curbs in. There is going to be more work down there, but the road will still be open.”
John Evans, the City of Butler’s building code official, said the contractor for the project, Thomas Construction of Grove City, ran one crew on each bridge to complete phase two of the $2.3 million Sullivan Run Control Project, planned to help mitigate flooding on the streets.
The installed culverts were meant to free up space underneath the bridges so more water can run through without building up onto the streets during periods of rainfall.
In April, Evans also said the city may embark on further work to maintain Sullivan Run.
“This will complete phase two, and I'm not sure if there is going to be a phase three or phase four,” he said. “We're wanting to get these done before we think about doing another phase.”
