Several Sandy Lake Township residents are concerned about the potential closing of a bridge on Creek Road that spans Sandy Creek.

The bridge is structurally sound but needs about $50,000 worth of "superficial work," Sandy Lake Township Supervisor Ed Olson said.

The problem is that no one wants to own up to owning the bridge.

Olson says the state, not the township, owns the bridge. He said the two entities have been arguing about who owns the bridge for 30 years.

Since the township doesn't own the bridge, supervisors aren't going to close it, Olson said. Instead, they're going to close the road on both ends of the bridge, creating two dead-end roads.

The bridge was built by the Army Corps of Engineers in the 1960s and connects state Route 173 to Goddard State Park, Olson said. At one point Creek Road was a state road, he added.

The state turned the road over to the township but Olson said that didn't include the bridge. In 1993 the township tried to contact PennDOT about ownership of the bridge and found that Creek Road wasn't even listed as a township road.

The state was never able to provide the township with any paperwork proving the township owned the bridge, Olson said.

Olson said the township won't repair the 175-foot-long bridge, which he said is too big to be a township bridge.

"Once we start (repairs) then we've accepted the bridge," he said.

Resident Tracy Reed has been trying to stop the road closing and she and other residents met with township officials Thursday to talk about the problem.

Mrs. Reed said several homes -- including hers -- on one side of the bridge would be isolated from the rest of the township. She said she's concerned about emergency vehicles being able to get to her house and school buses.

Helen Winger, emergency management coordinator for the township, said alternate routes are mapped out and the emergency vehicles have driven the routes.

Gene Carey, a school bus contractor, said if the road is closed he will have to send vans to pick up the children that live on the road. Buses full of children can't navigate some of the alternate routes because of the steep hills and lack of turn-around, he said.

Mrs. Reed said she contacted many people about the closing including the state Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, PennDOT, Goddard State Park and State Rep. Rod Wilt, R-Sugar Grove Township, 17th District, and Sen. Bob Robbins (R-50). She said neither lawmaker was willing to talk to her or help the residents.

Mrs. Reed said she had hoped Wilt would attend Thursday's meeting because he was in Sandy Lake that day.

Olson said the lawmakers are "literally no help" and "don't care" about the township.

Wilt said today he was not told about the meeting until Tuesday afternoon and it was impossible for him to attend the meeting because of scheduling conflicts.

Since being informed about the bridge's status six weeks ago, Wilt said he has been trying to do something.

"We haven't turned our back on anybody or washed our hands of anything. We're working on it," Wilt said.

Wilt said he can't force PennDOT to take over the bridge.

What he said he can do is try to get someone at PennDOT to come up with proof that the township owns the bridge, and so far no one has done that, Wilt said.

However, the state has taken a position that they don't own any bridges on township-owned roads, he said.

Wilt said he has talked to representatives from the Center for Local Government Services and planned another meeting with PennDOT officials.

"I don't have the magic key" to fix the problem, Wilt said. He added that Robbins is in the same position.

The Herald was unable to contact Robbins for comment today.

"It's not just people in Sandy Lake that are gonna miss that road," Mrs. Reed said. She noted that the majority of traffic on the road is people going to Lake Wilhelm and a bike trail in the area.

Don Mains, assistant director of the DCNR, which oversees state parks, said he is concerned about the closing of the road because it is an access to the park. He said there are on-going discussions with the township.

While Mains said his agency can support the township residents, it can't force the township supervisors into a decision. He said they can only ask and request, not require.

Mrs. Winger said she thinks the "upper echelon" politicians are trying to "pass the buck" to the township supervisors.

Olson said supervisors haven't set a date for the road closing because they're trying to give residents a chance to find a way to solve the problem.

Olson also said supervisors were advised by their solicitor, Peter Acker, that if they close the bridge the state will probably take the township to court.

Wilt said if a solution to the problem was easy one, of his predecessors -- which include his father, former state Sen. Roy Wilt, and Robbins -- would have found it in the past 30 years.

You can e-mail Herald Staff Writer Kristen Garrett at kgarrett@sharon-herald.com