GREENVILLE — Several Greenville residents who say they are frustrated with the pace of the repair or replacement of the Ohl Street bridge offered Mercer County commissioners their help in speeding along the process.

Dennis Cascio, a spokesman for the group – some of whom were sporting “16125 Imagine the Possibilities”  T--shirts, told county officials Wednesday that, if pointed in the right direction, they are willing to put what resources they have toward reopening the span. The bridge has been closed for more than three years.

The 1909 truss-style bridge may be a rarity in the state, according to Mark Miller, the county’s engineer who oversees repair and replacement of the county’s 255 bridges. That rarity may well be the cause of the delay in moving forward, he said.

The number of truss-style bridges is decreasing, down from 56 to 39 statewide, and Ohl Street is even more unique, Miller said, because of its 29-foot width, enough to accommodate two cars.

State officials may not be quick to give up that piece of history, and he told residents the bottleneck is in Harrisburg, not with county officials.

The bridge is a metal, six-panel, pin-connected Pratt through-truss style that was refurbished in 1980.

Miller, who addressed the group and county commissioners Wednesday morning, held up a tri-fold posterboard detailing the standard process for getting a bridge repaired or replaced, a process that by itself takes some time.

The difference when dealing with an historical bridge, such as Ohl Street, he said, is that state officials threw a curveball into the process in 2010. That’s when PennDOT officials created a “cultural resources committee” that reviews, for historical significance, all engineering studies submitted for either repair or replacement. That committee has a 321-page handbook that addresses historical and cultural concerns, Miller said, as well as a website seeking comment and input from “consultants.”

The county hired HDR Inc., an architectural, engineering and consulting firm from Pittsburgh, to evaluate and submit a plan for either repair or replacement of the bridge.

Finished in September, HDR’s plan - which estimated replacement costs at $2.3 million and historically correct repair costs at $3.8 million – was reviewed by the cultural committee, which sent it back to HDR in April with additional questions.

“We can’t move forward to a final design until the historians agree,” Miller said. Among the many things that PennDOT, the cultural committee and the Federal Highway Administration consider is the intended use of the bridge, and the loss of historical designation if it is replaced.

Much of the discussion between Miller and the residents centered on the purpose of the bridge.

When it was open, it served as a secondary route around downtown Greenville and a backup if anything happens at the now 20-year-old bridge on Main Street.

Commissioner Chairman John Lechner, who said he favors building a brand-new, state-of-the-art bridge, encouraged the group to meet with borough officials and reach a consensus about the purpose of the bridge. Specifically, he said, they must decide if they want it to be used for heavy-duty truck traffic or keep its historical designation and have a span with weight and height limitations.

The options being considered are: repairing the bridge with historically correct replacement parts; replacing part of the bridge with current bridge materials and maintaining the trusses and pin-connections, the parts that make it historic; or tearing it down and building a new bridge.

Miller said PennDOT and the committee also consider the “extraordinary” cost of losing the historical designation and stressed to residents that the decision doesn’t necessarily come down to money, although it’s a factor.

The Bessemer and Lake Erie Railroad Shops are considered an historic area; the neighborhood surrounding the bridge is not, Miller said.

Nate Clark, a Hempfield Township resident who said he is listed as a “consulting party” by PennDOT and the cultural committee, suggested that to use the bridge for heavy truck traffic will require expensive roadwork at the west end of the span. He proposed re-establishing an auto/pedestrian route that “was there since 1909 until three years ago.”

“It’s worked for 100 years. We’ll be no worse off,” he said.

Funding for the repair work comes from the Federal Highway Administration and the state transportation improvement program. Miller said the county has about $2.5 million for construction and inspection costs.

If keeping the historical designation will cost more than that – and it’s currently estimated at about $3.8 million – Miller said the county would have to seek more money from the state. That, however, comes at the expense of repairs to other bridges in the county, he added.

Lechner said the commissioners would support whatever the residents and borough officials agree on. “You want that bridge open as quickly as possible. So do we,” he said.

He also said once that consensus is reached, he would ask Sen. Robert D. “Bob” Robbins, Salem Township, R-50th District, and state Rep. Michele Brooks, Jamestown, R-17th District, to “put some pressure on PennDOT” to move the project along.