Residents want lights added to Masontown Bridge: "Looks like you're driving into a valley of death"
A small Fayette County community is calling for change when it comes to bridge safety.
The Masontown Bridge, newly constructed and opened in 2015, crosses over the Monongahela River on Route 21. It does not have any lights, signs or reflectors and some drivers told KDKA-TV that it is pitch black when traveling across it at night.
"It just looks like you're driving into a valley of death. You don't see that bridge until you come right up on it," Michael Frammartino said.
In 2023, the Hatfield Ferry power plant next to the bridge was imploded. Frammartino said the plant used to illuminate light on the bridge.
"I just don't want to see a loss of life in that area," Frammartino said.
Whether you're traveling from Greene County to Fayette or the opposite, Frammartino said it's nearly pitch black on the bridge now.
"There was a $60 million that was allocated to the [bridge] project and if you go to 2015 when the bridge finished, it came in at $49.6 million. A bridge built in 2015 with no walkways and no lights and $10.4 million under budget," Frammartino said.
He said the extra money should have gone toward installing lights, a walkway and adding signs to the bridge.
In addition, he said there's funding now that he believes could be used from a gas impact fee collected in Fayette and Greene counties that could cover the tab.
"The gas impact tax fee that Pennsylvania charges, alone last year, Greene County collected $6.5 million, and Fayette County, that collected $1.7 million. Statewide since the tax started, the gas impact tax fee, it's $2.4 billion the state has collected," Frammartino said. "Let's just put the money to the right use."
PennDOT District 12 assistant district executive and design engineer Jeremy Hughes told KDKA-TV they couldn't comment on if additional funds were allocated to the project.
"However, the funds needed to complete the construction of the bridge were allocated based on the final design plans for the needs at that time. As for the total cost of the project, cost savings were identified through the design process that lowered the total cost for this project," Hughes said.
Hughes said any request to add lights to the bridge now would require the municipalities to participate in constructing, energizing and maintaining the lighting system.
KDKA-TV asked Hughes if any studies have been done since the implosion to determine if lights are needed on the bridge.
"Our crash reports from 2011 to 2023 indicate a total of five reportable crashes near the structure with two occurring at night. The location does not indicate a high crash cluster," Hughes said.
Hughes said the decision on whether to add lights to a new bridge "is evaluated during the design of a project."
"In addition, municipal input and their willingness to participate in maintenance and energizing is taken into account," Hughes said.
KDKA-TV reached out to Masontown's mayor, Toni Petrus, who said it would be a "great idea" to add lights to the bridge, especially to help their elderly residents in the area to be able to see better.
"It's little things like signs, reflectors, lights, safety items like that that cannot cost anything close of $2.4 billion that they collected, the state collected, since 2014," Frammartino said.
Other drivers in the area on Friday, who travel the bridge daily, echoed Frammartino's concerns about a lack of lighting, saying it's pitch black at night.
As of now, PennDOT said there are no plans to add lighting to the bridge.
