U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, who oversees lots of roads, made an example of toads Tuesday.
Speaking in front of the closed Nanticoke-West Nanticoke Bridge, Duffy promised Tuesday to work to speed up federal permitting so the bridge can reopen sooner than 2029.
The secretary said he can’t understand why permitting on an existing bridge should take so long.
“We already have a bridge here, right? We got a bridge, and if there was a toad that was going to be impacted, it was already impacted,” Duffy said.
Toads aren’t known to be slowing the bridge’s replacement, but Luzerne County officials said federal environmental permitting is.
“The permitting process in America takes way too damn long,” Duffy said. “By the way, there might be projects that aren't good for the environment, and we should say no to them, but we shouldn't take 10 years to say no. Let's look at it. Let's analyze it, and let's make a decision.”
Two bridges closed
The 2,072-foot Nanticoke-West Nanticoke bridge, partially a steel-truss span, has connected the city of Nanticoke and the West Nanticoke section of Plymouth since 1914. Without it, vehicles detour along the Route 29/South Cross Valley Expressway bridge, also known as the John S. Fine Bridge.
County manager Romilda Crocamo ordered the closure on March 20, 2025, the first day of spring after a state inspection found weight-carrying beams rusted through. About 7,000 vehicles a day crossed it, said Nicholas Vough, Luzerne County’s director of project management. Replacement isn’t expected to start until at least 2029, he said.
“It doesn't look too bad from the top, but as soon as you go below, it's horrible,” he said.
Vough said the county hired Modjeski and Masters Inc., of Mechanicsburg, which has designed more than a dozen bridges crossing the Susquehanna, to begin engineering the replacement.
The preliminary design contract was for about $1 million. He did not have an estimate for the total cost but the county has received a $54 million grant from gambling revenues.
“We have some years until (construction begins) because there's a historic society survey, there's environmental, and then there's the animal surveys like mussels, bats, and all those take six months to a year,” Vough said. “So, we're trying to do things concurrently to get it moving a little faster. But there's no way past the regulations, so we have to do them no matter what, unless given an exemption.”
It is one of two closed bridges spanning the river.
The Firefighters' Memorial Bridge, also known as the Water Street Bridge, which connects Pittston to West Pittston, closed in August 2021. Pre-construction on that is expected to start soon, Pittston Mayor Michael Lombardo said. That should reopen in the next year or two after six years closed. Pittston is replacing the
The Specialist Dale J. Kridlo Memorial Bridge, originally the Fort Jenkins Bridge, at the same time with Water Street expected to reopen first, Lombardo said. Both should be open by 2030, he said.
Show us the money
Crocamo urged Duffy to come through with federal help.
“Luzerne County is committed to rebuilding this bridge and reviving this lifeline. We are not asking Washington for a favor. We are asking Washington to be a partner in something that we are already committed to do,” she said.
Duffy said he showed up at the invitation of congressman Rob Bresnahan, who said bridges are apolitical.
“When you're about to go across this bridge, it doesn't care if you're a Republican or a Democrat or your socio-economic status,” said Bresnahan, a Republican.
“Everyone needs to get from point A to point B, and that includes our first responders who now need to take an alternate route, sometimes taking three-and-a-half to five extra minutes when seconds are on the line,” Bresnahan said.
