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Wednesday, April 30, 2003

By Susan Seibel

Butler's rusted, inefficient eyesore known as the Main Street viaduct is going to be replaced, but the city wants to make sure the new viaduct has some of the architectural charm of its 86-year-old predecessor.

"One of the goals and objectives of the city is to make [the new viaduct] as reflective of the area and of the original era when the current one was built," said John Evans, the city's zoning and code officer.

Built in 1917, the Main Street viaduct connects Butler's Main Street to the city's southern neighborhoods. Construction on its replacement is scheduled to begin in summer 2004 and be completed in spring 2006.

City council has appointed a special committee to work with the state Department of Transportation and Michael Baker, the primary engineering firm for the project, Evans said.

Called the South Main Street viaduct Review Committee, the panel is asking for three items to be added to the design to help the new bridge blend in with the turn-of-the-century buildings that remain on the city's Main Street and surrounding neighborhoods. The items are decorative lighting on the outer edges of both sides of the bridge, a decorative pedestrian railing and textural treatment on the concrete abutments to resemble cut stone, said Evans, a committee member.

City council approved those requests in February and since then, committee members have been discussing them with PennDOT project manager Jim Andrews and Michael Baker engineers.

For a model, the committee is using the new Mercer Street Bridge in Harmony, which was built in 2000 but incorporates design elements typical of the late 1800s and early 1900s. The committee has selected light fixtures for the new viaduct that are similar to those on Main Street's sidewalks.

PennDOT spokesman Jim Struzzi said the discussions about the details of the viaduct are in the early stages, but all those concerned are working in a cooperative spirit.

"We're very pleased that the Main Street viaduct replacement is nearing construction. I think they just want to make sure the bridge echoes the downtown theme for the city. Those are the kinds of things you can incorporate later, but it's important to start those discussions now. We're starting that process," Struzzi said. "We're going to do our part to meet community needs. It is a major impact on the county as a whole. It's taken a lot of cooperation to get it to this point."

Evans is optimistic that the discussion process will result in an attractive new viaduct.

"PennDOT has been very, very, very cooperative on this. We're both working real well on this," Evans said.

When completed, the new viaduct will consist of two lanes in each direction with shoulders, a sidewalk along one side and lighting on both sides. To minimize traffic disruptions during construction, the new viaduct will be built to the west of the present structure.

PennDOT also will replace the Wayne Street viaduct in the city, but it will not begin work on that bridge until the new Main Street viaduct is built.

For more information about the Main Street viaduct project, including the history of the viaduct, photos and construction plans, visit the project Web site at www.mainstreetviaduct.com

Susan Seibel is a freelance writer.