Narberth Bridge Meeting Moves to Wednesday

The decision of whether to fix the Narberth Avenue bridge before its demolition and replacement in 2014 could come as soon as this week.

At 7:30 p.m. Wednesday night, Narberth officials announced, the Borough Council will hear details of an engineering study from Pennoni & Associates. The firm was charged with projecting whether the Narberth Avenue bridge—closed since late August at PennDOT's behest—would be able to support vehicle traffic if repaired.

If the answer is yes, the council is likely to vote that same night to approve the repairs, which would be expected to cost about $300,000 and take six to eight weeks. Borough officials have highlighted the importance of doing whatever is possible to bolster the downtown business district during the holiday shopping season.

If the answer is no, the borough may keep the bridge closed until early 2014, when a demolition and reconstruction project of 12 to 15 months is slated to begin.

The debate among supporters and opponents of the repairs centers on the potential extra cost to taxpayers versus the cost to merchants of being less accessible to customers for a longer period of time.

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