PORT CARBON - In anticipation of this morning's storm, municipal officials in the neighboring boroughs of Port Carbon and Mechanicsville ordered no parking on their emergency snow routes for 24 hours, according to Jon Bowman, Port Carbon police chief.
"The snow emergency route must be clear of parked vehicles for 24 hours, from 12 a.m. Wednesday to 12 a.m. Thursday," Bowman said Tuesday at Port Carbon's February workshop.
"This is not a state of emergency. We're only stating there's no parking in the emergency snow routes at this point," Port Carbon Mayor Charles R. "Chuck" Joy said.
In Port Carbon, the snow route is:
- Coal Street from Spring to Pike streets, even address side only.
- Coal Street from Pike Street to the Miller factory building, both sides.
- Third Street from Lillian Street to East Norwegian Township line, even address side only.
- Pike Street from Mill Street to Turkey Hill, both sides.
- Market to Fourth streets, both sides.
- Pottsville Street from Commerce to Pike streets, both sides.
In Mechanicsville, the snow route is:
- First Street from Park to Anderson streets, both sides.
- Park Street from First to East Norwegian streets, both sides.
- East Norwegian Street from Orchard to Park streets, both sides.
The Borough of Port Carbon also provides police services for the Borough of Mechanicsville.
In other matters at Port Carbon's workshop Tuesday, borough engineer James S. Tohill of Alfred Benesch & Co., Pottsville, gave the council an update on the state Department of Transportation's plan to replace the Pottsville Street Bridge this year.
"Jimmy, are they starting in March?" Scott Krater, the borough's emergency management coordinator, asked.
"That's the idea," Tohill said.
On Jan. 16, PennDOT hired Heim Construction, the low bidder, as the general contractor for the estimated $1.8 million project, Tohill said.
Built in 1926, the Pottsville Street Bridge is a concrete T-beam bridge.
It needs to be replaced because of deficiencies in its superstructure, Sean A. Brown, safety press officer for PennDOT, said previously.
It sustained damage during the 2006 flood and, in June 2009, a 40,000-pound John Deere 330 excavator crashed through the bridge's north sidewalk.
It will be replaced by a reinforced concrete adjacent box-beam bridge, Timothy A. Bolden, a consulting engineer with Gibson-Thomas Engineering Co. Inc., Camp Hill, said previously. Gibson-Thomas is the firm PennDOT hired to design the new bridge.
According to the plan, the work should be completed by October, Tohill said.