PennDOT has successfully chipped away, demolished and trashed a bridge that has crossed the Delaware River for 123 years.

That it was still standing is both pretty much a miracle, considering it was neglected for years for reasons unknown to me, and proof of its structural strength. I can speculate and say PennDOT is neither focused on nor equipped to maintain historic structures.

I can also say that it appears there was a decision made in 2019 to steer the consulting parties toward replacing this bridge with a two-lane structure. One may never know, since most of the internal conversations are not available for public review.

Considering the fact that PennDOT did not allow anyone other than their own inspectors to determine the scope of the danger the bridge presented, again we may never know if the demolition was necessary.

What I do know is that a supposedly unsafe abutment on the NY side never collapsed. With all the pounding of large rock and movement of large construction vehicles during the past weeks around that abutment, it stood strong. Like the steel structure that was pushed off its supporting abutments, it will have to be encouraged to fall.

What I do care about is that the two abutments are still standing. One on the NY side and one on the PA side. As a form of cultural mitigation, we (aka the people who fought to save this bridge) are suggesting that the NY abutment not be demolished.

It can be preserved as a fitting monument to the bridge on the New York side of the river, which is a high-visibility site used by hundreds and hundreds of people, both visitors and locals.

On April 30, at a scheduled mitigation meeting with PennDOT, the representative from the National Park Service made a reference to reusing the stones from the abutments.

There are stones from the center abutment being stored for some future use.

Again, this decision was made without the input of our community and disclosed at a time that does not allow adequate discussion or input from our community. This has been the process since the closure of the bridge in 2019.

It would be significant if the stones from the center pier became integrated as part of the design of a monument to the Skinners Falls Bridge that would include the preserved NY abutment. Artifacts from the steel could also be part of the monument.

The National Park Service, PennDOT and the UDC were sent this proposal. Cynthia Nash has made that outreach. There has not been a response.

Our understanding is that NPS has plans for regrading and replanting the area. Those plans should be paused.

Again, why do I care?

This bridge, for many of us in this community, was more than a quicker car route from one state to the other. It was a spot visited and traversed by many. It was a connector of communities. It was a historic structure with structural significance, in a historic neighborhood.

Rather than completely wipe any semblance of the structure off the face of the planet, our community deserves a mitigation solution that respects the historical, aesthetic and cultural significance of the Skinners Falls Bridge.

Rose Biondi lives in Milanville, PA.