Small
bridge collapses near Millersburg
By Louise Troutman and
Duane Good
Heavy rains early last week may
have caused the collapse of a 120 year-old
vehicular bridge above railway tracks one mile
north of Millersburg.
The tracks were out of use for
about 10 hours after the Jan. 25 incident.
The Sentinel had no confirmation
of an exact cause of the collapse as of press
time. However, a source familiar with the
incident said it appears that heavy rains during
the early morning of Jan. 25 undermined the
stonework beneath the bridge.
The bridge - which according to
sources was built around 1890 - carried traffic
to the farm of John and Shirley Witmer.
Shirley Witmer told the Sentinel
that she did not hear the collapse but that she
believes it occurred around 5 p.m. Jan. 25.
The Witmers called "911," and
emergency management personnel contacted Norfolk
Southern, the railroad company that owns and
maintains the tracks.
According to Shirley Witmer,
railroad workers were at the scene all night
Jan. 25 into Jan. 26.
The workers also recovered the
bridge and moved it adjacent to the tracks a few
hundred feet south.
There was no serious damage to
the tracks. Railway service was restored at
about 3:30 a.m. Jan. 26, according to Rudy
Husband, a spokesman for Norfolk Southern.
The Sentinel was
not able to get confirmation prior to press time
Feb. 1 as to whether the bridge will be replaced
and, if so, in what time frame.
Work to begin on upgrades
to area park
MILLERSBURG - All of the
necessary funding is in place to move forward on
a hiking/biking pathway and other additions to
the borough's Riverfront Park.
Aided by more than $500,000 in
grants from the state and from Dauphin County,
the project will enter the construction design
phase in February.
Click here for complete details.
Early
morning crash near Halifax
kills Dillsburg man
HALIFAX TWP. - Two Dillsburg
residents were injured, one fatally, in an early
morning vehicle crash Jan. 31 on Route 147,
about half a mile north of Halifax.
The investigation is continuing,
but speed and alcohol "are factors in the
crash," state police at Lykens said.
Corey Strahosky, 18, was
pronounced dead at the scene of the 3:57 a.m.
crash, police said. The cause of death was "head
trauma," according to the Dauphin County
Coroner's Office.
Strahosky was a passenger in a
1990 Geo Prizm driven by Preston Evans, 28, also
of Dillsburg, according to police.
Evans was ejected from the
vehicle and was found lying in a field. He was
flown to Hershey Medical Center. Evans was
listed in "fair" condition as of press time Feb.
1.
Police said Evans was driving
south, toward Halifax, when for unknown reasons
he lost control of the car. The car crossed into
the opposite lane, then the rear of the vehicle
struck a tree. At this point, Evans was ejected,
police said.
The car then traveled back across
both lanes and the rear of the vehicle struck a
telephone pole, according to police.
Strahosky was wearing a seatbelt.
It is not known if Evans was wearing a seatbelt
as well, police said.
Route 147 between
Halifax and Millersburg was closed for several
hours after the crash; northbound traffic was
re-routed onto Route 225 to Elizabethville, then
onto Route 209 to Millersburg.
