McKeesport spent less than budgeted for one project, so it may have enough money for another.

Mayor Jim Brewster said the resurfacing of West Fifth Avenue will not cost as much as expected, and he wants to use the surplus money to pave the ramps leading to the W.D. Mansfield Memorial Bridge.

"After careful study and input, it looks like we may have enough money to do resurfacing from Marathon [Oil] to the bridge with what we've saved on West Fifth," Mr. Brewster said.

The additional work would not impede plans to have West Fifth completely open before the Christmas parade in November, he said.

Using a $1 million state grant, the original plan called for repaving only between Ramp Two and Rebecca Street.

Time and money is being saved by not removing streetcar tracks in that area and using Petromat -- an asphalt-saturated fabric that serves as an interlayer in resurfaced roads and acts as a moisture barrier.

The savings will allow Donegal Construction to continue work from in front of the Marathon convenience store to the bridge ramps.

"It would be a shame to only do [West] Fifth down to Marathon Oil," city administrator Dennis Pittman said. "That's a really rough road."

He said state Department of Transportation has to approve the use of the money.

If PennDOT approves the change, the additional work may count toward the 5 percent local match required in the estimated $33 million effort to rehabilitate the Mansfield Bridge. Federal dollars pay for 80 percent of the work, and county money pays for 15 percent.

How much McKeesport will owe won't be clear until bids are sought next year.

PennDOT is working with McKeesport to have the plan changes approved, according to Jim Struzzi, PennDOT spokesman for District 11.

No problems are expected with using the money to extend the paving, said Cheryl Moon-Sirianni, a PennDOT district executive for design.

She expects the first phase of the Mansfield Bridge work to begin next week with immediate repairs to bearings underneath the 480-foot truss, which carries traffic over the Monongahela River from Dravosburg to McKeesport and Glassport.

Traffic may experience intermittent stoppages, but interruptions to traffic flow should be minimal, she said, because of the nature of the work.

Other work on the 59-year-old bridge will begin next year.

The average age for Pennsylvania bridges is 51 years, according to Alison Wenger, spokeswoman at PennDOT's Harrisburg headquarters.

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