DOT funds awarded to repair bridge damaged by flooding

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Feb. 29, 2012

Thompson, Marino Announce $2.4 million Grant for Lycoming County

 WASHINGTON -- U.S. Reps. Glenn ‘GT’ Thompson, PA-5, and Tom Marino, PA-10, announce a $2.4 million U.S. Department of Transportation grant will be awarded to Lycoming County to replace the Lycoming Valley Railroad Bridge. The bridge was heavily damaged during the September flooding.

The $2,437,388 grant was awarded under the Federal Railroad Administration’s Rail Line Relocation Program. 

Thompson and Marino, along with other Pennsylvania lawmakers, wrote a letter in support of the county’s request for federal funding to replace the bridge. They cited the inability of local municipalities to independently fund the cost of replacement.

 “Replacing the Lycoming Valley Railroad Bridge will help avoid further costs on local businesses and industries that are experiencing product delays, which have been severely impacted by the flooding this past fall,” Thompson said.  “With the local economy dependent upon this critical infrastructure, this support will ensure that the replacement is constructed in a timely and efficient manner.”

“This is great news for those who live in the area of the bridge as well as the local businesses that rely on this bridge on a daily basis,” Marino said. “This is government doing what it is supposed to do, supporting infrastructure and taking care of important transportation needs.”

Lycoming County Commissioner Jeff Wheeland also welcomed the announcement.

“This will go a long way toward completion of the Lycoming Valley Railroad Bridge,” Wheeland said. “It’s incredibly important to the eastern part of Lycoming County and industries that rely on the rail, and will offer a future investment in the industrial parks located in the designated growth corridor.”

 The bridge crosses Loyalsock Creek, a tributary of the West Branch of the Susquehanna River, and was constructed in the 1920s. Prior to its recent collapse, more than 25,000 rail cars used the bridge annually.  All rail traffic traveling from the east to Newberry Yard —the rail freight intermodal facility serving the Williamsport Regional Airport — must cross the bridge. 

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