J
the
ournal-herald THURSDAY, MARCH 14, 2024 • Volume 43 – No. 29 ©2024, THE JOURNAL-HERALD. All Rights Reserved
CONTINUING: THE WHITE HAVEN JOURNAL ESTABLISHED 1879–145th YEAR, NO. 16
SINGLE COPY– 75¢ (USPS 277440)
CONTINUING: THE WEATHERLY HERALD ESTABLISHED 1880–144th YEAR, NO. 42
WASD names Sites as business manager by Seth Isenberg
ABOUT 150 local residents turned out to hear PennDOT’s plans for the four-year construction period to replace the Interstate 80 bridges during a public meeting March 7 at St. Patrick’s Parish Center. JH: Seth Isenberg
Community update on bridge project draws crowd River Road closure causes concern by Seth and Ruth Isenberg Residents of East Side Borough and western Kidder Township were among the most verbal commenters at the preconstruction community update meeting on Thursday, March 7, regarding the Interstate 80 bridge construction project. About 150 people filled the room at St. Patrick’s Parish Center, many with questions and comments. Starting with an explanation of the history of the project, engineer Elliott Fink of design lead Michael Baker International presented information about
the timeline and order of construction. First up will be the construction of a temporary east-bound on-ramp, in order to stage equipment for the first of the new bridges. The new eastbound bridge will be wider to accommodate a longer on-ramp. When that is completed, east bound traffic will be routed over the new bridge, and west-bound traffic will be routed over the old east-bound bridge. The new west-bound bridge will be built, and the old west-bound bridge will be removed. Once traffic is re-routed to both the new bridges, the old east-bound bridge removal will be the last
part of the project. The whole thing will take about four years. Several detours will be used during parts of the project. The section of River Road underneath the bridges in western Kidder Township will be closed for the duration, because equipment will be staged there. Concerns were expressed about postal delivery, the Weatherly Area School District buses, and emergency service responses. The east-bound ramp will be closed for 5 months, then open for a year, followed by another closure of 2 months. During the closures, traffic will be routed through White Haven.
See BRIDGE MEETING, page 5
Weatherly Area School District’s new Business Manager is Leann Sites. She is a Weatherly resident, and has sent her three daughters through the Weatherly Schools. She started working at the High School 23 years ago, serving long term as the secretary there. She was promoted to assistant business manager four years ago, working with the last three Business Managers. She was selected for the job at a special meeting in late
See BUSINESS MGR, page 5