HONESDALE, PA — A state highway official has repeated her message about keeping the Narrowsburg bridge open during planned repairs. The question is whether the message was directed at the people voicing concerns.

Among the correspondence announced at the March 26 meeting of the Wayne County Commissioners was a March 19 letter from Susan Hazelton, assistant district executive of PennDOT District 4.

However according to the “cc” list attached to both letters, which included New York and Pennsylvania state officials and agencies, the letter was not shared with local concerned groups.

Wayne correspondence last week also included two March 5 letters from the Upper Delaware Council (UDC) and the Upper Delaware Scenic Byway. Both were critical of apparent project delays.

Hazelton’s March 19 letter was identical to one received last week, which she sent on March 12, except for a second paragraph in which underlining had been drawn in by hand, explaining that “The bridge will remain open to bi-directional traffic utilizing one lane controlled with a traffic signal from now through the restoration of the structure. Upon completion of the project, the bridge will be open with no lane or weight restrictions.”

After some emergency repairs in 2012, the bridge has been subject to one-lane traffic since 2013.

Both of Hazelton’s letters estimated the bidding date for the project as fall of 2016, but neither provided a projected completion date.

The UDC letter said PennDOT had earlier provided dates, including a “notice to proceed for spring 2017,” and project completion targeted for fall of 2018. The UDC letter said a citizen petition found the timeline excessively protracted, and expressed concerns about “negative impacts from any required bridge closure periods…. ”

Wayne Commissioners Chair Brian Smith said the county has received a lot of correspondence about the bridge construction. “We recognize that the bridge is very important for [emergency] mutual aid, as a major commercial truck traffic route and for shopping.”

“It’s important to keep buying habits in place. When new ones are adopted, people don’t come back, and that is important for grocery stores and other retailers in Wayne County,” he said.

Commissioner Jonathan Fritz said delays are to be expected when dealing with interstate projects involving coordination of two different transportation entities.