Bus route problems in Conewango Township appear to have been resolved.
Last month, the Transit Authority of Warren County sent a letter to the Conewango Township supervisors asking for a waiver to use the bridge on River Road.
"I don't think this is going to go through for liability issues," TAWC Director John Aldrich told the authority's board of directors at October's meeting.
Given the bridge's condition, the supervisors did say no; but Aldrich announced to the board on Thursday that an alternate arrangement has been made.
Aldrich said he contacted the manager of the trailer park on River Road, where buses have turned around in the past, and come to an agreement that includes the authority potentially being responsible for repair work in the spring should any be needed. Using the trailer park lot to turn around is convenient for the authority as it has a bus shelter just across the street.
"This is the best scenario," Aldrich said.
Other alternatives were reviewed. One was using the lot by the boat launch on River Road as a point to turn around absent the bridge. Aldrich said he "didn't want to get more involved in that lot if we didn't have to," explaining to the board that the boat launch lot is in very poor condition and has "a lot of potholes." Exploring that route through the winter months potentially places the Authority on the hook for more substantive repairs.
While there are riders on the other side of the bridge away from the trailer park, the majority of riders on River Road are from the trailer park. Changing the route to accommodate everyone would require finding another turn-around location, Aldrich said.
At last month's meeting, Aldrich explained that the buses currently turn around at the boat launch on River Road but expressed concern regarding whether the launch's parking lot will be consistently plowed during the winter months. Without a place to turn around, Aldrich said that the service might not have be available to that location.