EASTON, Pa. — Easton has procured nearly $1 million in funding to replace the Abbott Street Bridge over the Lehigh Canal, State Senator Lisa Boscola recently announced.
The $930,118 comes from the state Transportation Department's Transportation Alternatives Set-Aside, or TASA, program, a release from Boscola states.
It will go toward replacing the deteriorating bridge, which is a pivotal part of the Delaware and Lehigh Canal Trails.
Those trails encompass 141 miles of local communities across five counties and routinely are listed among the most popular walking paths in eastern Pennsylvania.
“It’s been very important for us on big projects to get state aid and grant money, because we just don’t have those types of funds available."Mayor Sal Panto Jr.
The grant will fund construction of a new bridge over the Lehigh Canal placed next to the current bridge to avoid an interruption on the D&L Trail.
It will cross the canal in a single span without structures in the canal, which is similar in design to the current bridge.
According to TASA’s website, the project will use a prefabricated bridge or assemble prefabricated parts of the bridge at the site.
“The bridge would cross the canal in a single span without structures in the canal, which is similar in design to the current bridge," the site says.
"The new bridge will be placed next to the current bridge to minimize disruptions to users of the trail."
Funding for projects
Boscola said, “A wonder of the D&L is that most of the trail is maintained through the individual efforts of the many municipalities, such as Easton, that it passes through.
"This is what makes a small bridge in the middle of the woods a priority worthy of statewide consideration — it benefits the whole region and all those who use the trail for work or play.”
“It’s been very important for us on big projects to get state aid and grant money because we just don’t have those types of funds available. So we’re really appreciative of Senator Boscola’s hard work to get us this money.”Easton Mayor Sal Panto Jr.
The TASA program offers funding for projects and activities defined as transportation alternatives.
They include on- and off-road pedestrian and bicycle facilities, infrastructure projects for improving nondriver access to public transportation and enhanced mobility, community improvement activities, and environmental mitigation, trails that serve a transportation purpose, and safe routes to school projects.
Funding for the Easton project was a result of the federal Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, enacted as the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.
“It’s been very important for us on big projects to get state aid and grant money because we just don’t have those types of funds available,” Easton Mayor Sal Panto Jr. said.
“So we’re really appreciative of Senator Boscola’s hard work to get us this money.”
