Clear Spring Road in North Annville Township slated to reopen in 2026

If construction goes as planned, the railroad bridge on Clear Spring Road in North Annville Township should reopen to traffic in the spring of 2026. 

Adam Wolfe, supervisor and secretary for North Annville Township, provided LebTown an exclusive update on that project as well as some of the recent developments within the township due to that stretch of roadway being closed earlier this year.

Wolfe said Norfolk Southern informed the township that utility relocation work is supposed to commence soon by Verizon and is expected to be completed by mid-November. A recent LebTown drive-by revealed that Verizon’s work had not begun. 

“Provided that utility relocation is completed on time, Nyleve, the contractor, will mobilize in mid-November. The replacement of the four retaining walls by Nyleve is expected to take approximately three months of work time,” Wolfe said.

Norfolk Southern spokesman Kasandra Ortiz said in an email to LebTown that “The retaining walls approaching the bridge in all four corners are being rehabilitated and partially replaced.”

A reason the expected reopening date is undetermined is due to the uncertainty of when winter weather will start this year and end in 2026.

“Nyleve will work until the weather becomes work-prohibitive and then they will resume and finish the project when the asphalt plants re-open in the springtime,” Wolfe said. 

Ortiz added that Nyleve has three to four months of work on the bridge’s structure. “They will work until the weather prohibits concrete/asphalt work. They will need to complete the project in the spring of 2026 when the asphalt plants re-open,” Ortiz wrote, adding inclement winter weather may push the reopening date back to summer 2026.

Structural defects were found in the railroad bridge that crosses Norfolk Southern tracks on Clear Spring Road, a two-mile stretch of highway that connects U.S. Route 422 to state Route 934 to the northeast. The closed section of highway is just north of Route 422.

The bridge was closed to traffic on May 7 when concrete barriers were placed and “Closed Road” signs were erected at both ends of the bridge.

In May, Wolfe told LebTown the road closed “due to structural defects on the west side of the bridge that were discovered during a biennial inspection on April 28 by Lebanon County’s engineering firm, Wilson Consulting Group.” The county offers their engineering firm to do bridge inspections as a service to all local municipalities.

Read More: Clear Spring Road in N. Annville Twp. closed indefinitely due to bridge defects

The bridge closed indefinitely that date until repairs could be made to the four retaining walls located on the bridge’s structure and superstructure, according to Wolfe.

Since the closure, Norfolk Southern officials submitted engineering plans for the bridge to the Pennsylvania Utilities Commission, which has oversight of railroads within the commonwealth. Those plans were recently approved by the PUC. 

North Annville Township is responsible for maintaining the road surface while Norfolk Southern is in charge of maintaining the bridge’s superstructure and substructure. The bridge, 71 feet long and 31 feet wide, was built in 1937.

Wolfe recently told LebTown that the township will be responsible for repaving the road once the construction project is completed. 

LebTown requested from the railroad this week a copy of the plans that were approved by the PUC but was told that information is not public information.

A railroad spokesman wrote in an email to LebTown that, “Due to homeland security protocol, we are not allowed to release structural plans. That includes railroad bridges which are classified as critical infrastructure information.” However, the railroad was apparently unaware that the plans are available through the PUC’s online portal.

Meanwhile, in the months since the bridge was closed, other concerns on how nearby roads in proximity to the bridge are being utilized as detours have been raised by township residents.

Read More: N. Annville Twp. supervisors address multiple traffic concerns from residents

At the October meeting of township supervisors, it was noted that a dump truck accident at a mobile home park in North Annville Township in mid-September was caused by commercial vehicles using Shanamantown Road to get to quarries near the closed railroad bridge.

Other general traffic concerns were also raised at that meeting. The other issue discussed centered on the potential creation of an ordinance to address excessive vehicular noises.

North Annville Mobile Home Park owner Jestine Reider spoke about the need to address the Shanamantown and Clear Spring roads intersection, noting that residents who lived there and whose homes were damaged on Sept. 16 don’t want to return to their homes.

On the same day as the bridge drive-by, damage to several mobile homes at the trailer park was still noticeable from Clear Spring Road. The damaged mobile homes are close to Clear Spring Road and adjacent to a garage that was not damaged in the accident. It’s unclear how the dump truck hit the homes instead of the garage, which is directly in line with the two intersections.

Reider described at the meeting the trauma suffered by her residents during the early morning accident that occurred while residents were asleep.

“There’s a lot of trauma that is left from that incident, from the people that are living there. And they wish not to live there anymore because of the road noises,” Reider said. “Because I don’t know if your house has ever been hit by a dump truck carrying 4,000 pounds of sand, but it’s not a pleasant experience when you’re thrown four feet in the air, hit your bed, and then thrown back up in the air again and hit the floor. So they’re never going to live there again. They don’t want to live there again.”

It was noted during the meeting that “dump trucks traveling to and from Delaware are using Shanamantown Road while Clear Spring Road is closed.” Those trucks traveling to and from the quarries are bringing in sand for delivery and returning with full loads of stone, it was stated at the meeting.

Following the discussion, supervisors unanimously voted to contact the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation and have an engineer from the Local Technical Assistance Program review local roadways and provide potential solutions to address the concerns. 

Wolfe provided an update for what’s happened since the meeting, stating he had contacted LTAP on Tuesday Oct. 14, the day after the Oct. 13 monthly meeting. 

“The consultant was scheduled to conduct a site visit to assess the intersection of Shanamantown Road and Clear Spring Road on Friday, Oct. 17,” Wolfe said. “However, the site visit required postponement due to a personal emergency experienced by the consultant.  A new date for the site visit has not yet been established.”

Wolfe provided additional details from a discussion about the detour routes that occurred at the township’s last meeting. 

“Also since the Oct. 13 meeting, I contacted PennDOT and discussed the issue of trucks failing to follow the designated Clear Spring Road detour route,” Wolfe said. 

A discussion item regarding that conversation will be on the Nov. 10 agenda, he added. 

“The outcome of that discussion is that, at the Nov. 10 meeting, the supervisors will discuss and vote on a resolution to declare Kauffman Road and Shanamantown Road closed to thru truck traffic as part of the detour related to the Clear Spring Road railroad bridge repairs,” Wolfe said. “If the resolution is adopted by the supervisors at the Nov. 10 meeting, ‘No thru trucks’ signs will be installed at either end of Kauffman Road and Shanamantown Road and the truck restriction will be enforced by local police.” 

Wolfe noted that if the restriction passes in November, it will be temporary, expiring when Clear Spring Road reopens to traffic.

He said the detours for all traffic as designed when the bridge was closed are: 

• From the intersection of U.S. Route 422 and Clear Spring Rd., follow 422 east into Annville, then turn left and head north on Route 934 and continue straight to the intersection of 934 and Clear Spring Road.

• From the intersection of 934 and Clear Spring Road, follow 934 south into Annville, then turn right and head west on 422 to the intersection of 422 and Clear Spring Road. 

Despite the missed meeting with PennDOT due to the emergency, there have been outcomes based on conversations with PennDOT, Wolfe added.

“As a result of the recent detour discussion with PennDOT, a sign stating ‘Open to Pennsy Supply’ will be placed at the intersection of Clear Spring Road and 422,” Wolfe said. “Also, a sign stating, ‘Open to Syner Road and Carmeuse Lime’ will be placed at the intersection of Clear Spring Road and 934.”