Since December 2016, drivers in the Town and Country's readership area have traveled the detours created by the closure of the five-span Route 663 bridge over the Green Lane Reservoir. That's a condition slated to exist until the bridge's re-construction is completed, which is scheduled for August.

                Soon to be added to the current Route 663 headache in Upper Hanover Township will be the closure of the bridge spanning the West Branch of the Perkiomen Creek, about a half mile west.  That project, scheduled to start in April, will close the heavily traveled highway on both sides of Kutztown Road until its scheduled completion in late July.

                The new bridge will be a 78-foot-long, single-span integral abutment. The curb-to-curb width of the new bridge will total 40 feet, which will include two 12-foot lanes and two 8-foot shoulders.

                The closure of both bridges during the spring and summer months will increase traffic on the already heavily traveled side-roads outside of the designated detour routes. The closing of the bridge over the West Branch of the Perkiomen Creek will also bring back the Kings and Ward roads detours used last year during the reconstruction of the smaller Knight Road Bridge over the Green Lane Reservoir. 

                Nearly 10,000 vehicles travel Route 663 every day.

                In Milford Township, the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission recently released a statement that the final design has been completed for the Trumbauersville Road and Steinsburg Road replacement projects over the Northeast Extension. Both roads are expected to close on or after Feb. 27 for about nine months. Advanced warning signs announcing the closure of the Milford Township spans will be posted two weeks before the start of construction.

                According to the PA Turnpike Commission, the Trumbauersville Road bridge detour will take automobile traffic over Allentown Road and Finland/Upper Ridge Road; there will be a separate and longer detour for large trucks.

                For the Steinsburg Road bridge detour, automobile and truck traffic will be directed over Allentown Road, John Fries Highway (Route 663) and Spinnerstown Road.

                Reconstruction of both bridges is being done by Reading Site Contractors, a division of the H&K Group, Inc.               

                According to a Construction Notice issued recently by Timothy Hendricks of the H&K Group, "Construction activities will occur mostly during the daytime. However, nighttime operations will occur at both bridges for several operations that will impede traffic on the PA Turnpike.

                "Nighttime operations on the PA Turnpike will include temporary barrier placement, traffic shifts, bridge demolition, bridge superstructure erection and concrete deck placement. Other operations may be added, if required. These operations are performed at night to maintain the safety of our workers and the motoring public. Nighttime operations will occur generally between 7 p.m. and 6 a.m.

                "While efforts will be taken to minimize noise during the nighttime operations, there may be noticeable noise levels that may be distracting, primarily with the demolition activities."