"Bridge the Gap" With the Clifton Road Bridge Also known as the J. R. Taylor Memorial Bridge                               J. R. Taylor Memorial Web Site Facts, questions and answers about the project and how you can help.

Where is the bridge located?
It will be in Bethel Park, crossing Clifton Road at the intersection with Highfield Road close to McMurray Road and Al's Café and the entrance to Washington School.

Why do we need a bridge?
To (safely) get to the other side! Clifton Road has heavy traffic, especially in the morning and the evening, which are also the times of higher trail usage. There is a marked crosswalk there, but it is a challenge to use it when cars are backed up at the light at McMurray Road. When crossing southbound, it is difficult to see cars coming from the light. In order to see the approaching cars, a person needs to stand on the double yellow line in the middle of the road. The drivers can't see the trail users any better. This difficult situation is magnified when people are attempting to cross with a bicycle.

Some trail users choose the easiest option and decide not to cross Clifton Road. Instead they will approach the end of the trail on the embankments by Clifton Road and then turn around and go back. And a few trail users do not even realize that there is a trail on the other side of Clifton Road! The trail is heavily used by senior citizens and parents with small children. The bridge will also supply a safe path to school for children and provide easier access to businesses in the area.

We want to get people to the other side using the safest option - THE CLIFTON ROAD BRIDGE!

Wasn't there a bridge before?
Yes, there was! The trail is built on the former right of way of the Montour Railroad. The old railroad bridge was removed in the summer of 1989 when Clifton Road was straightened in order to alleviate traffic congestion. The Montour Trail Council was only formalized in the fall of 1989. As there was no trail across the old bridge, there was no requirement to replace the railroad bridge. A counter example is the bridge that was part of the expansion of McMurray Road near Valleybrook Road in Peters Township that took place a few years ago. The Arrowhead Trail was in use, so a new, longer bridge was included in the road expansion project.

How many cross Clifton Road now?
This is very weather dependent, but on an average day, about 100, not including school children. Trail traffic can be expected to increase as more segments are added to the main line of the trail, linking Library and then Cecil Township to Peters Township and Bethel Park.

The Irishtown Road trailhead is the closest place to access the Montour Trail system for a population of perhaps 150,000 South Hills residents from Castle Shannon, Mount Lebanon, Whitehall, Baldwin and most of Bethel Park. Most of these users will be crossing Clifton Road.

What will the bridge look like?
PENNDOT, on whose land the bridge will sit, has given us permission to build the bridge, as long as their regulations are followed. The bridge design has not been finalized, but the abutments will probably be 'half-height' abutments, well back from the road. The superstructure will be about 180 feet long. It will have a clearance of at least 15.5 feet above Clifton Road, and will have fences on both sides for safety. Four different conceptual designs have been looked at: A girder bridge, a low truss bridge, a low 'tied-arch' bridge and a cable stayed bridge. The favored design is the tied-arch bridge:

Tied-arch design

How much money will this cost?
This is an important project when considering the safety of the residents of our community. When weighing the safety issues of crossing Clifton Road and the engineering estimates of $750,000, spending this amount of money is more appealing than someone being injured or worse when crossing Clifton Road.

How will this get paid for?
The Montour Trail has acquired a valuable partner in this project: The family of J. R. Taylor. J. R. Taylor had an unfortunate fatal accident on May 11, 2004, and the family has decided that the bridge (to be known as the J. R. Taylor Memorial Bridge) would be a fitting memorial to him. J. R. lived much of his life in Bethel Park, and worked as an Iron Worker for his family business, Century Steel Erectors. You can see their cranes around many large construction sites. Century would of course do the steel erection of the bridge. Further, they have offered to do the project management, help assist with funding, and arrange for good prices for the other aspects of the project. A memorandum of understanding was formally accepted by the Taylor family and the board of the Montour Trail Council on July 19, 2004.

Helpful though all this is, we will still need additional funding. It needs to be pointed out that this project is not eligible for Federal Transportation Enhancement funding, which is paying for most of the structural work elsewhere on the Montour Trail. This is because the Clifton Road Bridge is located on a branch of the main trail. Hence, we need to keep thinking more locally and more inventively about the funding.

Some preliminary work has already been done at almost no cost. The area has been mapped, and borings have been done to find out what kind of foundation will be required. HDR Engineering may do the detailed engineering at no cost. And volunteers will build whatever parts that are suitable for volunteers to do under quality guidance.

A separate Clifton Road Bridge Fund has been started for this purpose, which now (November, 2004) has $82,000 in it. However, more money will definitely be needed. We are asking for more contributions, as well as grants at the Municipal, County, State, and Federal level. Virtually all legislators are supportive of this project, but they need to balance this project against other worthy uses of our tax money.