PennDOT set to fix bridge after concerns from neighbors
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Concerned neighbors in Southwest Philly say they've been ringing alarms for weeks about a hole in the sidewalk of a bridge so wide a foot can fit through it.
Now, PennDOT says it's taking immediate action after we showed them the gaping hole that's growing by the day at South 53rd Street and Whitby Avenue.
The bridge was built in 1917. PennDOT says it's in poor condition and more than 8,000 cars travel across the bridge every day.
But what PennDOT didn't know was it's in such bad shape that a hole in the bridge's sidewalk is wide enough where you fit a size 13 foot through it.
"It's very concerning! One wrong step and I'm a goner," Janna Curtis said.
"It's actually incredibly scary," Ryan Spak, a real estate developer, said.
Spak recently put a cone over the hole that he took from the site of a nearby apartment complex he's building.
"Our goal was to just keep people from walking through this and instead go around it," Spak said.
Spak says he's emailed and called PennDOT to fix the hole but has been getting the run around for more than two weeks.
"This needs to be addressed immediately," Spak said.
So, CBS News Philadelphia took Spak's complaints right to PennDOT.
PennDOT spokesman Brad Rudolph said the hole was on the list to get fixed.
Rudolph initially described it to CBS Philadelphia as a small hole. But then we told him about the cone placed over it by the developer.
Rudolph: "I mean it would have been nice if we got there to do it ourselves. I don't know how big the hole is. Can you show me?
Matt Petrillo: "Right there you can actually stick a foot through it."
Rudolph: "Yep, I'm glad they put something there so people can avoid that. Hopefully our crews get out there as soon as possible. I'm not sure why it wasn't barricaded."
Rudolph adds now that we have brought it to PennDOT's attention, they'll take immediate action and plan to have a crew out here within a week. We will make sure PennDOT follows through as we stay on this story.
City councilmember Jamie Gauthier represents the neighborhood and has been trying to get the entire bridge repaired for a year.
"I think one issue is that when you have multiple agencies... you end up with a situation that no one responds," Gauthier said.
