7:05 p.m. Update: PennDOT gets tough with gas prospectors; state reps to tour area

BY JAMES LOEWENSTEIN (STAFF WRITER)
Published: March 17, 2010

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State Department of Transportation officials met Wednesday in Montoursville with representatives from gas drilling companies operating in the area and told them they will need to deploy whatever resources it takes to keep the state routes in Bradford and other counties safe and passable, or they will have their permits to use the roads revoked, PennDOT Maintenance Services Manager Brian J. Toseki said this afternoon at a meeting in Towanda of the Bradford County Gas Advisory Committee.

"If they need to have a road crew on every road every day (repairing the road), then that's what they'll have to do," Toseki said at a meeting in Towanda of the Bradford County Gas Advisory Committee.

PennDOT is also hiring three more inspectors for Bradford County to make sure that the state routes that are posted and bonded are repaired by the responsible party, Toseki said at the meeting of the committee.

To find out more about the conditions of local roads, state Sen. Gene Yaw and state Reps. Tina Pickett and Matt Baker will be touring damaged roads in Bradford County and meeting with local township supervisors, Bradford County Commissioner Doug McLinko said.

See Thursday's editions of The Daily Review for more coverage of the Gas Advisory Committee meeting.

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8 posted comments

Hey 514 resident: Yes, I've been paying very close attention to many of the roads in this county, and the horrible, dangerous condition many of them are in. I just don't have the need to travel Route 514 every single day, thank goodness, so I wasn't aware that a crew had been there as often as you cited. However, judging by the looks and feel of the craters that tore up the undercarriage of my car as I was traveling down 514 that afternoon, one would never know there were crews out "fixing" the roads. "Dumping dirt and gravel" does little to fix holes of that magnitude when hundreds of trucks pound down that road every single day, and basically knock the dirt and gravel back out and cause ruts big enough to swallow pick up trucks. So resident, I think many people would not simply "get over it" as you so eloquently stated.
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Justin Opinion,  03/18/10 12:30
Justin, have you been paying attention there has been a crew on this road for the last week 3 times a day dumping dirt/gravel fixing the roads. I live on 514 and and I see milk trucks using this road too. they weigh the same get over it
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resident 514,  03/17/10 10:28
THANK YOU to PennDOT, the State Police, and the local police departments for doing their job in trying to keep us ALL safe. The workload must be overwhelming, but please know you are appreciated!!!!
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Grateful,  03/17/10 10:15
Penn DOT, don't blow it. Just because your shovels don't move quick doesn't mean that they can't keep our roads in passable shape. There are roads around here that have been this bad, or close about 10 years ago and no one complained, they just said.. It's the thaw.
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Get Over it,  03/17/10 9:43
I hope the PennDOT inspectors and our elected officials tour and travel Route 514 from one end to the other. This road is in DEPLORABLE condition and I'm afraid there is going to be a fatality, or at the least a bad accident before the destroyed parts of the road can be fixed. I pray I'm wrong. I noticed there was a repair crew on it tonight (3/17) but there are still numerous areas that are just awful. Thank you PennDOT, for taking this action and looking out for the safety of Bradford County residents.
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Justin Opinion,  03/17/10 8:42
Thanks to the Daily Review for bringing this critical issue to the forefront and to Penn Dot , Tina Pickett and Senator Yaw for responding. This is very positive news for all residents of Bradford County.
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local worker,  03/17/10 8:26
I believe that the gas company's are working as fast as they can on fixing the roads.In terrytown Twp. crews are working 24hrs a day 7days for the last two weeks and what I see is that the roads when completed will have a base that is as good as your major roads so people just slow down and be patient.
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Gary Potter,  03/17/10 8:00
about time. Thank You Penn Dot.
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Jessica,  03/17/10 6:43