The pedestrian bridge will provide access to shopping areas, North Penn High School
Upper Gwynedd Township officials voted unanimously last month to accept more than $300,000 in grant money meant to move a pedestrian bridge down Sumneytown Pike.
“I can’t tell you the number of calls, or emails, or comments on social media, that we’ve gotten, about the fact that we’re going to be removing the bridge, and just moving it up the road,” said Township Manager Sandra Brookley Zadell.
“We’re not going to take a bridge and just move it up the road, and leave a hole. We are building a new bridge, and installing pedestrian facilities on the new bridge,” she said.
Upper Gwynedd officials have discussed the need for repairs to the Sumneytown Pike road bridge, located just east of the intersection with Church Road and West Point Pike, since late 2020, and in early 2021 the township secured funds from PennDOT to repair the roadway bridge just next to the pedestrian bridge.
The road bridge was built in 1927 and has shown age-related deterioration after heavy flooding in August 2020, and township officials have said the new roadway bridge would be wider than the current one and include pedestrian lanes, thus talks starting last summer about moving the pedestrian bridge, built in the late 2000s, to cross the Towamencin Creek near Gwynedale Way.
In March, state lawmakers announced a $306,000 grant from the state’s Commonwealth Financing Authority to cover the costs of moving that bridge and said at the time that doing so would improve pedestrian infrastructure. The commissioners’ meeting on May 6 brought the next step in that process: board VP Rebecca Moodie made a motion to approve a grant agreement between the township and CFA allowing the use of the funds.
“In July 2023, the board approved a resolution to apply for a grant to move the Sumneytown Pike pedestrian bridge. The pedestrian bridge will be relocated, alongside the existing roadway, further up Sumneytown Pike, just after Gwynedale Way, but before the Weis (Market) shopping center,” Moodie said.
State Rep. Liz Hanbidge, D-62nd, announced in May that the township was selected for a $306,229 grant from the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development’s Multimodal Transportation Fund to go toward relocating the bridge from its current location over the Wissahickon Creek.
"This grant exemplifies our commitment to enhancing pedestrian infrastructure, ensuring that all members of our community can travel locally in a safe manner,” Hanbidge said. "Relocating the pedestrian bridge to an area that receives more foot traffic is a commonsense approach to improving public safety and reducing traffic congestion."
At present, there is no pedestrian access over the Towamencin Creek.
The relocation will facilitate connectivity among the North Penn Marketplace, Wawa, Corpus Christi School and Church and North Penn High School.
“The bridge at the new location will span the Towamencin Creek, and provide the opportunity to establish a pedestrian connection for sidewalks on either side of the creek, where there is currently none. This section of roadway has been noted in our comprehensive plan as a high-priority area for increased walkability,” Moodie said.
The total estimated cost for moving the bridge is roughly $528,000 and funding to do so was included in the township’s 2024 budget, Moodie added, before thanking state Hanbidge, and state Senator Tracy Pennycuick, R-12th, and saying both were “instrumental” in helping the township secure the grant.
Zadell then said the board and township staff have gotten plenty of feedback on the idea since news of the grant award.
“We are moving the pedestrian bridge to a new location. We have gotten a lot of complaint emails from people, saying ‘I use the pedestrian bridge all the time, don’t move it,'” she said.
“There will still be a pedestrian crossing, by Boston Style (Pizza), on the new roadway bridge. We will be repurposing the old bridge, and moving it up the road,” Zadell said, and Moodie added: “So: two bridges when we currently have one.”
Resident Carl Smith then asked if there were any “strings that are attached” or requirements to use the grant funding, and the manager answered that the contract language was posted in the board’s online meeting materials, and only specified that the funds would be used for the bridge relocation.
“We can’t use these funds to do something other than what we said. We have to include certain contract requirements, we have to put a sign up that says the CFA gave us the money for this, things like that, that make total sense,” she said.
Resident Dennis Wendt then said he’d be glad to see the bridge in the new location.
“I am grateful for the bridge down by Weis because as a frequent walker down that way, I have to dash across that (roadway) bridge occasionally. I’m grateful there will be something done,” he said.
Tony Di Domizio contributed to this report.
This article appears courtesy of a content share agreement between North Penn Now and The Reporter. To read more stories like this, visit www.thereporteronline.com.
