The seemingly endless process of replacing the Mead Avenue Bridge has moved a step closer to fruition, but it may still be 2014 before traffic starts to flow.

Pennsylvania Department of Transportation’s Engineering District 1-0 and the Federal Highway Administration, funding sources for the project, have approved a preliminary engineering and environmental study of a wide range of alternatives. This approval allows the project to move forward as scheduled.

The county-owned bridge has been closed as the result of structural and safety issues since March 23, 2007.

Referred to as the Alternative Analysis, the newly-approved study, which got the federal go-ahead on Sept. 9, evaluated a total of eight options, from doing nothing (officially known as No-Build) to rehabilitation and construction options presented during a public meeting in December 2007, and outlined the options to be carried forward for more detailed studies.

The only alternatives that will be examined further are No-Build, which will be examined for comparison purposes, and replacement of the bridge in its current location.

According to The EADS Group, the engineering firm hired by Crawford County to lead the project, all other options were removed from consideration “based on not meeting the project purpose and need, impacts, costs and consideration of public input.”

Both the Citizens Advisory Committee, a group formed in January 2006 to identify and discuss issues of common concern regarding the bridge, and Crawford County Commissioners have voiced support for replacing the bridge at its current location; a survey of the estimated 75 to 100 attendees at the December meeting also revealed a similar preference.

With the current approval in hand, the project team can move forward on the next steps of the project, including the preparation of an effects analysis in accordance with Section 106 of the 1966 Historical Preservation Act — which will document the effects of the project on the historic bridge — and a biological assessment that will document potential impacts on the endangered mussels found in French Creek.

Those documents in turn will lead to the eventual preparation of an environmental assessment, which will document the project’s overall impacts to the natural, social-economic and cultural environments and detail measures to avoid, minimize and mitigate these impacts.

“It’s actually moving fairly smoothly,” EADS Environmental Department Supervisor Dain Davis said Thursday.

Although it’s a slow process, “I’ve said during public meetings that the slow way is actually the quick way,” Davis continued. “It’s not really slow — it’s the normal path we have to take with so many different environmental rules and regulations. The process requires us to follow each one. It’s a combination of state and federal rules and regulations. There’s no sense in trying to cut corners — or even give the perception you’re trying to cut corners. You just do what you have to do to get to the end of the process.”

As the project moves forward, a public meeting will be convened to discuss and receive input on the environmental assessment — probably during the summer of 2009. Completion of the assessment is expected by the end of 2009.

Environmental clearance is anticipated by 2010. Once that’s complete, the final design — which is expected to take up to two years to complete — can begin. The completion of the final design will be followed by another two years for construction.

According to Davis, the normal, standard timelines for the project have always had a target date of near the end of 2012 for starting construction.

“I’d say PennDOT District 1 and Crawford County Commissioners are doing everything they can to move this project along,” Davis said.