Armstrong County bridge abruptly closed after inspectors found it unsafe for traffic

SOUTH BUFFALO TOWNSHIP, Pa. — For those who live in the small Village of Clinton in South Buffalo Township, there are two ways in and out of town. Now, after the township put up barricades to close the bridge on Tuesday, there’s only one.

For many neighbors, the closure seemed abrupt and also a pain.

“Have to go like, seven minutes out of the way,” said Luke Whitfield.

The township said the bridge has been an issue for the last 10 years.

“I’m surprised that bridge is still up,” said Dalton Moore.

Supervisors said they got an email late last week saying the bridge had deteriorated to where it’s no longer safe.

The county told them it had to be closed by Tuesday.

On Tuesday, crews put cement barricades on each side.

The thing is — the township doesn’t own the bridge.

“The railroad owns and is responsible for the superstructure. We are only responsible for the wearing surface,” said Joe Charton, Chairman of the Board of Supervisors.

Charlton told Channel 11’s Andrew Havranek they’ve tried to work with Buffalo and Pittsburgh Railroad to repair the bridge, but nothing ever came of those talks.

Havranek reached out to the railroad today but his call was not returned.

With the bridge closed, the one-way in and out of Clinton is White Rock Road. It’s a steep gravel road.

“I don’t know what they’re going to do for school buses if they’re going to go down the hill,” Whitfield said. “I mean, if it’s winter, they might, I don’t know. Injure someone.”

Charlton said he’s also worried about longer response time for emergencies, but he said first responders are aware.

He said he’s glad the township was able to recently finish a project to get White Rock Road out of the flood plain.

“We could have run into a situation if there was any rising river or flooding down there where we would have been in a very, very bad position,” he said.

Charlton said the township is working to make sure this bridge is not closed forever.

“We are pushing hard for repair and or replacement and reopening of that bridge,” Charlton said. “We are going to be fighting hard to make sure those repairs are made.”

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