You can get to the old bridge which was used to carry steam locomotives across a tributary stream by going to the furthest part of Village Shires and walking thru the woods. Don’t try to use the bridge unless you want be swimming in the tributary.
A new pontoon bridge was the most cost attractive replacement but it would keep floating to a different place every storm or so making it impossible to get to the Newtown portion of the railroad rail to trail. Not many people from Newtown would be heading into Northampton or Upper South because the real estate isn’t worth as much as it is in Newtown. Snobs hate to move down the ladder of success so the snob issue solves itself but the bridge over the stream doesn’t.
Remember, SEPTA has abandoned the railroad but is refusing to abandon their claim on the land so the bridge has to be able to meet the requirements of a railroad. A cheap trestle bridge would cost in the neighborhood of $5 to $8 million so call it $7 million. The RTT people don’t want to pay for the RTT so the residents of Northampton and Newtown will have to split the cost.
Newtown no doubt will come up with a creative plan to shift the cost onto Northampton either because they are smarter than Northampton or because Northampton isn’t as smart as them. Either way, add the cost to replace the busted bridge onto Northampton and who will tell Newtown no? Certainly not the supervisors in Northampton based on their fear to anger either those who don’t want the trail or those who want it.
Supervisor Barry Moore has already come out in favor of trails so only two other Northampton Supervisors need to vote for it. That would be Eileen Silver because she follows the orders of Supervisor George Komelasky and Komo always votes to increase taxes, at least he has by the evidence of the Northampton Tax bill which has been increasing since he first became a supervisor which was so long ago that, …well it was deep in the last century.
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