Franklin bridge replacement postponed until next spring

Replacement of the Specialist Mike Franklin Memorial Bridge, which carries U.S. Rt. 6 over the Allegheny River on Coudersport's East Second Street, has been postponed until next spring.

Under the Pa. Dept. of Transportation's previous timetable, the bridge was scheduled to close this month. PennDOT confirmed this week that the bridge work won't start until sometime around April 2008.

A project of this magnitude will have many ramifications. Traffic that would normally pass through the Coudersport business district westbound on Rt. 6 will be re-routed on a detour that includes Mill and Maple streets.

Eastbound Rt. 6 traffic will also be detoured prior to reaching the Main Street Bridge, unless the motorist intends to connect with northbound Rt. 44-49 at the intersection of Main and Second streets.

Detours will remain in effect for an estimated six months.

The new bridge will carry the same name as the current structure. It was dedicated last October to Specialist Michael Franklin, a Coudersport native who was killed by a roadside bomb in 2005 while serving in Iraq.