WirePOLITICS: Davis says Route 13 delay is ‘unacceptable’ in letter to Richards

Tom Waring, the Wire

State Rep. Tina Davis has written a letter to Leslie Richards, secretary of the Department of Transportation, saying it is “completely unacceptable” that completion of the Route 13 renovation and beautification project has been delayed again.

The project impacts Bristol Township, Tullytown and Bristol Borough.

Construction began in March 2013 and was supposed to be completed by the fall of 2015. The end date was pushed back to July 1, 2016, and PennDOT just gave the contractor until October to finish.

“It has put a terrible strain on the local businesses of our community,” Davis said. “Some of the businesses have already had to close their doors permanently because customers could not access them or didn’t want to drive through the construction zones. Others are on life support and might not make it much longer.”

Davis also mentioned inconvenience to residents, damage to vehicles and traffic nightmares, especially at rush hour.

Construction crews claim that they’ve been delayed by improperly marked utility lines.

“What I am extremely concerned about are reports that I have personally received from people close to this project stating that crews have been periodically pulled away to go work on other things,” Davis said. “If that has been the case, it is completely unacceptable in my opinion.”

Davis asked Richards to correct the problems immediately.