Eldred Township residents are not happy about the proposed detour when the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation is replacing the bridge that spans Chapple Creek on Silver Spring Boulevard.

The bridge is scheduled to be replaced in the summer of 2018, with construction beginning after the school year ends. The project is expected to take 30 days to complete.The planned detour route is 8 miles long. Traffic that would normally access Kunkletown via Silver Spring Boulevard will proceed along Silver Spring Boulevard to Molasses Valley Road, then turn right onto Fiddletown Road. Traffic will continue along Fiddletown Road until it intersects with Kunkletown Road.Todd Trabucco, a design engineer from Gibson Thomas,said this week that PennDOT and its subcontractors have looked at the proposed detour and possible alternates, but the original detour is the only one that will work. Other bridges on state roads have weight restrictions which limit the ability to use them to reroute truck traffic.Those present, including the supervisors, raised a number of concerns with the planned detour. The concerns were specifically that where Fiddletown Road intersects with Kleintop Lane, traffic must cross a single lane bridge to continue on Fiddletown Road. Normally, local traffic planning on traveling east on Kunkletown Road would take the turn onto Kleintop Lane to avoid a sharp left-handed turn off Fiddletown Road onto Kunkletown Road.But Kleintop Lane is a township road and not part of the detour route. PennDOT intends to install "No Truck" signs at the beginning of Kleintop Lane to stop truck traffic from using the township road.Once traffic passes over the single-lane bridge a short distance down Fiddletown Road, there is a sharp left-hand turn to access Kunkletown Road to the east.A number of people pointed out that a large tractor-trailer will not be able to make the turn to go east.Christopher Kufro, PennDOT Assistant District Executive for Design, said the route is the only viable option under the circumstances."There are a number of other routes in the area, but those routes have bridges that are weight posted," Kufro said. "These bridges are old and in need of repairs. It is not an optimal situation, but there aren't a lot of choices."Kufro said the bridge on Silver Spring Boulevard is not weight restricted. Neither is the single lane bridge on Fiddletown Road.Resident and planning board member Robert Boileau asked when the last inspection had been performed on the single-lane bridge."These bridges are inspected every two years," said Thomas Boccuto, a professional engineer with AECOM. Boccuto agreed to provide Boileau with a copy of the inspection report.Boccuto also pointed out that a study was conducted of the types of vehicles that use Silver Spring Boulevard and that the data was used to determine if the proposed route would be able to handle the traffic that would be detoured along it.When questioned as to whether or not PennDOT had actually driven the route with a tractor-trailer, Boccuto said that Penn DOT uses a "turning template" to determine if various types of vehicles can navigate a route.Copies of the design plans and maps are located at the township building for anyone who might be interested in seeing them. There are also comment cards that can be filled out and sent to PennDOT regarding the project.