​​Skinners Falls Bridge Project

County: Wayne County
Municipality: Damascus Township
Project Type: Planning and Environmental Linkages Study
Designer: AECOM (100 Sterling Parkway, Suite 205, Mechanicsburg, PA 17050)

The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) District 4-0, together with the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) and New York State Department of Transportation (NYSDOT) Region 9, is conducting a Planning and Environmental Linkages (PEL) Study for the Skinners Falls Bridge.

The Skinners Falls Bridge crosses the Delaware River, connecting the communities of Milanville, PA, and Skinners Falls, NY. In recent years, the bridge has undergone a series of traffic closures due to observed structural issues followed by emergency repairs and re-openings.  A customer complaint and subsequent District Bridge Unit inspection on October 16, 2019, identified timber deck and lateral truss bracing deterioration requiring the bridge to be closed.

PennDot is conducting a PEL study to identify the transportation purpose and need for the project. The next steps for the study include a Historic Bridge Rehabilitation Analysis, additional technical studies, and alternatives development, followed by an environmental assessment as part of the NEPA phase.

December 2024

PennDOT held a Virtual Public Meeting on December 17, 2024, to provide an update on the future of the bridge. The presentation and the questions and answers can be found under the Resources tab on the right-hand side of this page and can be found by clicking here.

November 2024

PennDOT held a Virtual Public Meeting on November 14, 2024, to discuss the future of the bridge. The presentation and the questions and answers can be found under the Resources tab on the right-hand side of this page and can be found by clicking here.

The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) announced today that it will host a public meeting to provide an update on the Skinners Falls Bridge on Thursday, November 14, 2024, at 2:00 PM. The meeting will be a virtual Microsoft Teams meeting. Attendees can log into the meeting by clicking here: https://bit.ly/SkinnersMeeting. Please note that the link is case-sensitive.

After a recent in-depth bridge inspection, it was determined that out of an abundance of caution, the Skinners Falls bridge, which carries Route 1002 over the Delaware River in Wayne County, must be dismantled in the interest of public safety, specifically for Delaware River boating and recreational traffic. The bridge has been closed to vehicular traffic since 2019.

PennDOT will work with our federal and state agency partners, along with those in New York, to begin dismantling the bridge this calendar year, as it is critical that the bridge be removed before the onset of winter.  

August 2024

PennDOT to Perform Emergency Bridge Repairs to the Skinners Falls Bridge on Route 1002 in Wayne County 

PennDOT will remove loose bridge components, install warning signs and buoys upstream and downstream of the bridge, and install temporary protective netting to the superstructure as part of an Aids to Navigation Plan (ATON) for the restriction of the navigable waterway under the Skinners Falls bridge located on Route 1002 in Damascus Township, Wayne County. An ATON plan has been created to show the placement of warning signs and buoys to allow for safe passage of boaters within the vicinity of the bridge.  Visitors to the Upper Delaware can check conditions and alerts by visiting the National Park Service Upper Delaware website (https://www.nps.gov/upde/index.html). Work will continue through the fall of 2024.

April 2024

The Skinners Falls Bridge Planning and Environmental Linkages Study Available

The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation Engineering District 4-0 announces the publication of the Planning and Environmental Linkages Study (PEL) report for State Route 1002, Section 651, Skinners Falls Bridge over the Delaware River project located in Damascus Township, Wayne County.

A 45-day comment period will commence on April 11, 2024 and conclude May 26, 2024.  Comments can be submitted via email to skinnersfallsbridge@aecom.com, or mailed to Amy Lolli, PennDOT Assistant Liaison Engineer, Department of Transportation, District Office 4-0, 55 Keystone Industrial Park, Dunmore, PA 18512.

The PEL report is available to review at the following locations: 

Wayne County Library (Honesdale) - 1406 North Main Street, Honesdale, PA 18431

Western Sullivan Public Library -  Tusten-Cochecton Branch, 198 Bridge Street, Narrowsburg, NY 12764

Damascus Township -  60 Conklin Rill Road, Damascus, PA 18415

Town of Tusten -  210 Bridge Street, Narrowsburg, NY 12764

PEL Public Meeting Scheduled

PennDOT staff and their design consultant will host a plans display meeting where staff will be available to explain the project and answer questions.  Preliminary results from the Planning and Environmental Linkages (PEL) study will be presented.  Your participation and input will be appreciated.

Date: April 25, 2024
Time: 5:00 PM - 7:00 PM
Location: Narrowsburg Union, 7 Erie Ave., Narrowsburg, NY 12764

August 2023

REMINDER:  Skinners Falls Bridge is closed to all pedestrians and bicycles.

The Skinners Falls Bridge has been closed to traffic for all users, including bicycles and pedestrians, since 2019 due to safety concerns related to the condition of the bridge. Fencing is being installed at the ends of the Skinners Falls Bridge immediately to ensure the safety of all users.  Please follow the posted detours to travel between New York and Pennsylvania in this area. 

May 2023

PennDOT completed the first phase (Phase 1) of a Historic Bridge Rehabilitation Analysis (HBRA) and conceptual bridge alignment locations for the bridge and presented their findings and next steps to the Project Advisory Committee (PAC) and federal and state resource agencies (agencies).

The Phase 1 analysis evaluated how much weight or load a rehabilitated bridge could carry while meeting the Secretary of Interior's (SOI) Standards for Rehabilitation. The HBRA Phase 1 document was posted to PennDOT's Pennsylvania Transportation and Heritage (PATH) webpage on May 25, 2023, and comments are being solicited for 30 days, until June 25, 2023, from the PA and NY State Historic Preservation Offices (SHPO) and consulting parties. View the Phase 1 Historic Bridge Rehabilitation Analysis (PDF) here.

A second phase of the analysis, HBRA Phase 2, will take place during the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) process and should be ready in Winter 2024/2025. The HBRA Phase 2 will examine how well the HBRA Phase 1 rehabilitation alternatives as well as other non-traditional improvements will meet the project Purpose and Needs and the SOI Standards for Rehabilitation.

PennDOT developed six conceptual alignment locations for a replacement bridge and studied the impacts of each on the historical, socioeconomic, and environmental resources in the project area. After reviewing the impacts and the pros and cons for each conceptual alignment, three alignments were recommended for further study and three alignments were recommended for dismissal. PennDOT requested comments and consensus on the alignments from the cooperating and participating agencies. The alignment locations were also presented to the PAC. View the May 2023 PAC Meeting presentation slides here.

January 2023

The draft Coordination Plan for Public and Agency Involvement was available for review by members of the PAC and agencies. The Coordination Plan defines the process that PennDOT will use to communicate PEL and subsequent NEPA information to the public and resource agencies. View the final Coordination Plan for Public and Agency Involvement here.

PennDOT presented the planned schedule and upcoming activities for the Historic Bridge Rehabilitation Analysis (HBRA) and new bridge alternatives analysis to the PAC in January 2023 and to agencies in December 2022. The HBRA will be completed in two phases. The Phase 1 analysis evaluates the potential weight-carrying capacity of the rehabilitated bridge and whether it meets the Secretary of Interior's Standards for Rehabilitation. HBRA Phase 2 will look at HBRA Phase 1 rehabilitation alternatives as well as other non-traditional improvements that will meet the project's Purpose and Needs. For the new bridge alternatives analysis, the study team will identify environmental constraints, develop and assess crossing locations, develop bridge cross sections, as well as develop and assess bridge types.

October 2022

About 200 property owners, residents, and businesses within close proximity to the bridge were mailed invitations to participate as a consulting party. Of those invitations sent, 57 people have responded (4/26/2023). A full list of the consulting parties is available on PennDOT's Pennsylvania Transportation and Heritage (PATH) webpage under the "project-specific information" section in the "consulting parties" tab.

August 2022

In preparation for upcoming field surveys and studies, PennDOT mailed Notice of Intent to Enter (NOITE) letters in mid-August 2022 to select residents and property owners near the Skinners Falls Bridge. The mailing stated the need for the Department to access the property to collect information on the cultural and environmental features of the bridge structure and study area.

June 2022

The draft Purpose and Need document and public comment form for Skinners Falls Bridge were available on the project website from December 8, 2021, to February 7, 2022. Hard copies of the draft Purpose and Need document and comment form were available at three locations in the project area. Information learned through the April 2021 project survey and email comments, along with feedback from the Project Advisory Committee and emergency management professionals, and past bridge usage data, were considered in the development of the draft Purpose and Need statement.

View the final Purpose and Need Documenthere and read the draft Purpose and Need Document Public Comment Response Reporthere.

2021

PennDOT and NYSDOT held a second Project Advisory Committee meeting on September 23, 2021. View a copy of the slideshow here. An Agency Coordination Meeting (ACM) was held on October 27, 2021, to review the Draft Purpose and Need document ahead of the public review.

The study team conducted a survey from March 31 to June 1, 2021, to gain input from the community to better understand the transportation needs for this location. Data and the comments from the survey have been analyzed and summarized in this document posted to the project website. View the project survey results here.

PennDOT and the Pennsylvania Historical Museum Commission (PHMC) produced an educational video about Pennsylvania's historic bridges and their contribution to Pennsylvania's cultural landscape. This video can be seen on PennDOT's Cultural Resources webpage here.

The following are informational fact sheets or web pages produced/owned by FHWA:

Planning and Environment Linkages Fact Sheet, Opens in A New Window (PDF)

Environmental Review Toolkit, Opens in A New Window

NEPA Overview, Opens in A New Window

Anyone with an expressed interest in or a concern with effects to historic properties in Milanville or the Skinners Falls bridge can request to become a Section 106 consulting party via PennDOT's cultural resources public consultation website PATH for the Skinners Falls Bridge project via this link: https://path.penndot.gov/ProjectDetails.aspx?ProjectID=4487. The PATH website also has information pertaining to the rights and responsibilities of a consulting party.

This PEL Study is being undertaken in accordance with 23 United States Code (USC) Section 168 as well as with 23 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) 450.212. Under these authorities, analyses conducted during planning may be adopted and incorporated directly or by reference into subsequent environmental documents prepared in accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), provided that the studies are adequately documented; interested Federal, State, local, and Tribal agencies are involved; a reasonable opportunity for public review and comment on the PEL Study is provided; and the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) is engaged.