At least 1,300 people in Sharon are frustrated enough about the situation with the Oakland Avenue Viaduct to sign a petition demanding the bridge be reopened.

Prindle Street resident Shirley Gagliardi presented the petition Thursday to Sharon council and said she plans to present it to the Mercer County Commissioners at their meeting next week.

The last line of the petition to the commissioners reads: "You may have forgotten about us, but we will not forget you on voting day."

Many residents had questions about the viaduct -- which spans U.S. Route 62, also known as Connelly Boulevard in Sharon -- that council members couldn't answer. Since no representatives from the county or Carmen Paliotta Contracting Inc., South Park, Pa., attended, the questions went unanswered.

"Why is everything so hush hush about this thing?" Dominic Gagliardi asked. "Why hasn't it gone to court? ... All we want is to find out why this is taking so long." The bridge has been closed since March 2001; the old viaduct was imploded in June that year. The new bridge was supposed to open in November 2001.

"They (the commissioners) really don't talk to us except for what they say in The Herald," council President Fred Hoffman said. "The only real answers we have are from a few faxes."