In a recent Times Leader article, it stated the demolition of the Firefighter’s Memorial Bridge would take place in the summer of 2026, according to Romilda Crocamo, Luzerne County manager. The bridge has been closed since 2021 due to structural issues.
The key issue in starting the project and its completion hinges on UGI relocating the gas line that runs under the deck of the bridge.
According to the Times Leader article, Pittston gas service is fed from the line under the bridge and UGI plans to upgrade gas service to Pittston by building a substation in order to remove the need for a line across the river.
In a statement from UGI, completion of gas line work is planned for early 2026.
Pittston Mayor Michael Lombardo and West Pittston’s Mayor Angelo Alfano are not happy with the current time line.
If UGI can successfully complete their gas line project on time, the start time for constructing the bridge is slated for the spring of 2027.
“Reading that (Times Leader) article is disappointing, and it’s not criticism, it’s a statement of fact,” Lombardo said. “For me, in normal projects, I want things to move faster and I don’t like the speed of government. Unfortunately, the speed of government figures into this equation.”
Lombardo said Pittston and West Pittston government had an obligation to determine what the fate of both bridges. After that determination of two needed bridges, what would the alignment be for both bridges? Would each bridge take a different path then the current alignment for better flow, not just in 2024 but looking into the next 50 years to 75 years.
Lombardo said, at one point, they were floating the idea of aligning Luzerne Avenue, West Pittston, with William Street, Pittston, and bypassing the connection to Water Street all together.
“If we went that route, we would have to take out properties at the bottom of William Street from Demuro’s Pizza to Kennedy Boulevard that would include Cawley Physical Therapy parking lot, the Falcone medical building and even the Chamber of Commerce,” Lombardo said.
That plan was not economically feasible.
It was eventually determined the Firefighter’s Memorial Bridge will be placed in the exact same spot with the exception of a wider righthand turning lane onto the bridge.
Lombardo said the steps leading down to the Riverfront Park will be relocated and it is possible the Firefighter’s monument will have be moved as well.
According to preliminary plans, the future Firefighter’s Memorial Bridge will be a wider span with two lanes of traffic including a bicycle lane and sidewalks on both sides of the bridge.
The Spc. Dale Kridlo Memorial Bridge flow will be altered slightly. The new entry on to the bridge from the Pittston side will be in lined with Mill Street, which will eliminate such a sharp right hand turn onto the bridge.
“The Mill Street alignment will take that weird right hand turn onto (Kennedy Boulevard),” Lombardo added. “By changing the alignment, the plan is to start both bridges at the same time.”
The Kridlo Bridge would be started on the Pittston side being completed most of the way. At the completion of the Firefighter’s Memorial Bridge, the Kridlo Bridge would be demolished and cleared away in order to connect the rest of the bridge to the West Pittston side.
It seems the bridge projects have to have other clearances beside PennDOT approval along with UGI clearing the gas line.
Lombardo said in most cases where state and federal are involved in financing, delays are to be expected, but not in this case.
According to Lombardo, finances are in place; it’s just the logistics to deal with in order to get the projects started.
“There’s other stuff happening and the other stuff is the complicated stuff,” Lombardo said. “On the side of the riverbank triggers artifact digs by the State Preservation Historic office to clear the site of any artifacts. Another problem are some of the homes on Susquehanna Avenue, which fall under the historic registry.
“On top of that, both bridges are old enough to qualify because of their form, particularly the Firefighter’s Bridge, for the Historic Register, so if you touch those structures, particularly demolish them, then you’ve got to do historical mitigation.”
Lombardo said, even moving the UGI gas line would have to go through two or three federal agencies to get permitted.
What is known at this time are preliminary design submissions are underway, including plans for the bridge and retaining wall designs, waterway permitting and traffic signals. Geotechnical borings are scheduled for completion this summer and final design should begin this fall, including permitting, structure plans, right-of-way acquisition, traffic signal plans and utility coordination.
West Pittston Mayor Alfano is onboard with Lombardo on seeing the bridge projects sped up.
“Mike and I are in synch, but can we make this happen a little bit quicker,” Alfano said. “Maybe a year or two could have been chopped off by now. Initially we thought five years to get this done, now we’re talking seven years?”
Alfano said he’s hoping there are no complications during the process to create any more setbacks.
“We have to figure out how to shave a year or a year and a half off the time line,” Lombardo said. “We just have to keep pushing and falls on the county, City of Pittston, West Pittston and we just need to push harder and now is the time while we have good relationships with state officials including the PA Secretary of Transportation in Michael Carroll.”
Carroll is the former state representative whose territory included Pittston.
One of the biggest concerns of having one bridge is public safety.
“We now have a regional ambulance association that covers the east side of the river and the west side as well, so if something happens to the Kridlo Bridge, we have a big problem,” Lombardo added. “There are many cases where Pittston Police Department will help with coverage in West Pittston.”
Lombardo said PennDOT proved last year how quickly a birdge can be built when a highway bridge was replaced on I-95 after it collapsed and he believes months to years could be eliminated to get the bridges down.
“If we can just chip away at the timeline, we could get this done sooner than later,” Lombardo added. “Let’s take down Firefighter’s as soon as possible and get the process going.”
Lombardo said the City of Pittston would be conducting a public safety meeting in the near future to include police, fire, and ambulance representatives.
“I’m doing my own hearing and I’m going to start preparing my case, just as a lawyer would going into battle, to speed up this timeline up.”
PennDOT is tentatively scheduling a public meeting on the bridges sometime in April.