Pennsylvania’s Congressional delegation recently sent a letter to U.S. Department of Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg in support of the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation’s (PennDOT) application for federal infrastructure funding.
Funding would be used to replace the 90-year-old Interstate 83 John Harris Memorial Bridge, known as the I-83 South Bridge, over the Susquehanna River in Harrisburg.
PennDOT has rated the bridge in “poor condition.” It has developed cracks in its steel beams that are considered fracture critical. A single girder’s failure could potentially cause the collapse of one or more of the bridge spans.
PennDOT estimates it would cost between $1.1 billion and $1.3 billion to replace the bridge.
On a daily basis, more than 125,000 vehicles travel its span.
“We write as representatives of all corners of Pennsylvania to underscore the statewide importance of this application,” the letter said. “Funding the I-83 South Bridge replacement project will not just benefit Dauphin and Cumberland Counties, but also ensure that projects from Greene County to Wayne County receive funding and can advance.”
The I-83 South Bridge was part of a collection of nine interstate bridges Pennsylvania intended to replace using revenue from tolls, but the Commonwealth Court struck down the plan.