Effort launched to save Kline span that connects Webster, Donora

Rochelle Shoaf understands she is fighting an uphill battle, one she and others have attempted to tackle for three years.

The bridge over the Monongahela River that connects Webster to Donora is slated to come down later this year.

But with a new governor – Tom Wolf – set to take office Jan. 20, the Donora woman is out to spare the bridge from the wrecking ball.

Shoaf unveiled an online petition on change.org to save the bridge, which was renamed in 2010 for Webster native and former Lt. Gov. Ernie Kline. It formerly was named the Donora-Webster Bridge.

PennDOT closed the bridge in July 2009, after an inspection revealed structural problems.

“At the beginning of new year, I made a resolution I was going to fight for everything I believe in, and I believe in this bridge,” Shoaf said.

Within 24 hours of posting the petition, it received more than 500 signatures, Shoaf said. It is approaching 840 to date. When it reaches 1,000 signatures, Shoaf plans to send it to Wolf and ask for a meeting to discuss the bridge.

The Internet address for the petition is: www.change.org/p/penn-dot-rebuild-the-donora-webster-bridge.

Shoaf said she previously reached out via email to the administration of outgoing Gov. Tom Corbett and received an email response from the state Department of Transportation.

Asked this week about the petition, PennDOT District 12 spokeswoman Valerie Petersen said, “My district has not received or heard of the petition that you mentioned. The project to remove the Donora-Webster Bridge has been awarded, and we are currently working on the demolition plan.”

Petersen did not identify a demolition day, but late last year said the bridge was scheduled to go down by May.

Petersen forwarded PennDOT's response to calls for the bridge to be spared: “The decision to remove this bridge was not something that was taken lightly. Following the closure of the bridge for safety concerns in July 2009, the department initiated a study and evaluation for how to best deal with alternatives for the structure. As part of our decision-making process, a very intense investigation of nine alternatives was completed.”

Petersen said PennDOT held meetings with municipal officials, the public and legislators, “hoping that everyone would understand the reasoning leading to the decision.”

In announcing the decision to raze, not rebuild, in 2012, District 12 District Executive Joe Szczur cited diminishing traffic and the availability of other spans within a few miles. For Webster residents, use of the Donora-Monessen Bridge to the south involves a four-mile detour. The Monongahela Bridge to the north involves an eight-mile round trip detour.

At one time, the bridge was used by more than 10,000 vehicles a day and was considered a regional bridge. Less than a third that number crossed it daily at the time it was closed.

Typically, PennDOT inspects every state-owned bridge every other year. The Kline span was inspected annually because officials were monitoring its condition.

It had a 3-ton weight limit beginning in 1986, when it was reopened after rehabilitation work.

It is not the lone bridge in Donora, but residents and business owners have noted that Route 51 traffic could come down Webster Hollow Road and cross the Kline bridge into town. The Kline and the Stan “The Man” Musial bridges are just 2 miles apart, but the differences are worlds apart, Donora businessman Anthony DiDonato told The Valley Independent in February 2012.

The Musial bridge formerly was known as the Donora-Monessen Bridge.

“People leave (town) on the Donora-Monessen Bridge,” said DiDonato, who owned Anthony's Italiano at the time.

“They came in on the Donora-Webster Bridge.”

“Something needs to be done,” Shoaf said. “We need access to Route 51 without going 10 to 15 minutes out of our way.”

PennDOT estimated the cost to rebuild the bridge would exceed $30 million. In contrast, demolition is slated to cost $3.25 million.

That decision came at a time PennDOT was committing millions to rebuild another bridge in the Valley.

The Kline span closed just months after the Charleroi-Monessen Bridge – since renamed for former Gov. John K. Tener – was shut down. The new Tener span opened in June 2012.

“I'm trying to make a difference in my community,” Shoaf said.

“I will not settle. I will fight this until there is no more bridge. There are 834 people saying we need this bridge.

“The best way to get this resolved is to give the people what they want.”

Shoaf acknowledges PennDOT seemingly sealed the span's fate three years ago.

“I do not think it's too late in the game because I reached out to them in the beginning and they shot me down immediately,” Shoaf said.

“Now that there is new governor, there are new changes that can be made. Listen to your people. They are asking for help. Don't push us away.

State Sen. Camera Bartolotta, R-Carroll, said “the question is, how feasible is it to replace bridge?”

The newly-elected senator said she is working answer the question.

“It's a question of what comes first,” Bartolotta said. “Do we bring business in to justify the need for the bridge or do we rebuild the bridge and then go after the businesses?

“Does it make sense to try to get $30 million to build a bridge between Donora and Webster?

Efforts to convince PennDOT to rebuild the bridge are nothing new.

Shortly after PennDOT made its announcement in 2012, state Rep. Peter J. Daley asked then-Secretary of Transportation Barry J. Schoch to place a moratorium on the decision.

At the time, state Rep. R. Ted Harhai, D-Monessen, state Sens. Kim Ward, R-Hempfield, and Tim Solobay, D-Canonsburg, (Bartolotta's predecessor) sent letters to PennDOT seeking money to build a bridge.

Following a public meeting in Donora, PennDOT officials said it would be too costly to repair or replace the aging span.

“With a new governor, we're going to renew our request,” Daley said.

Years after the bridge announcement was made, Daley – the son of a former football coach – used a gridiron analogy; “Its late in the game … but the bridge isn't down yet.”

Chris Buckley is a staff writer for Trib Total Media. He can be reached at 724-684-2642 or cbuckley@tribweb.com.