Cops, Courts & Fire -Bristol Borough

Randall Ave Bridge Inspection Still Up in the Air

Published

3 years ago

July 21, 2023

Bristol Township officials said Thursday night the Randall Avenue bridge closed since February still has no inspection date set and could be up to two to three months before the required review occurs.

Bristol Township Manager Randee Elton said the Amtrak approved inspection of the aging and closed bridge is what’s needed before moving forward.

She said the planned for June inspection was cancelled for Amtrak-approved hi-rail vehicle rental that because of its was not available and weather related challenges.

“We don’t quite have as quite as good news and expeditious workings for the concrete inspection of the concrete for the bridge that has failed a couple of times to get out there with the hi-rail truck as well as weather has pushed us off from Amtrak. Now we are not aware of when we’ll be able to get out there. It will be a couple of months because we could only find one specialty truck that meets Amraks requirements.”

The township applied for a $25 million dollar RAISE grant to replace the bridge however, it didn’t come to fruition. A nine million dollar grant to demolish the bridge, Elton said, was also not approved.

Elton said with help from state and federal officials the township is seeking other possible remedies.

Earlier this year “for immediate health, safety and welfare concerns” the bridge was shuddered, after pieces of it the bridge was falling onto the ground and the rail way below.

The township is set to put $975,000 worth of repair work into the bridge through a PennDOT grant before it was closed.

That project seeks to support bridge abutments by applying a resin to encase the concrete and reinforce it, officials said earlier this year.

Sitting over the Edgely section of the township the 169- foot span bridge was constructed in 1919.

“The average daily traffic over the bridge is approximately 400 cars per day with a cost to replace the bridge upwards of $25 million dollars. With so many higher traffic volume bridges with structural deficiencies in this region, we presume that the low volume of traffic does not make this bridge have a high scoring grant application” officials said after closing the bridge

Elton did say there was good news to report in terms of pedestrian safety and traffic on Radcliffe Street and Randall Avenue .

We’ve been successful in obtaining PennDOT permits for the Radcliffe Street and Randall Avenue traffic signal. It has been adjusted. It will remain green permanently now unless engaged by the pedestrian walkway push detector used to cross Radcliffe Street or the single family driveway on Radcliffe Street with the loop detector still engaged with the traffic signal, she said.

Related Topics:Randall Ave Bridge Inspection Still Up in the Air

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2 Comments

Melinda

July 21, 2023 at 9:04 pm

The bridge was not “shuddered”- it was shuttered. You need a new editor…

Reply
- Jeff Bohen
  
  July 26, 2023 at 1:30 pm
  
  Thanks Melinda.
  
  Reply

Cops, Courts & Fire -Bristol Borough

Bristol Borough Fire Chiefs Statement on Dorrance Street Fire

Published

2 days ago

March 3, 2026

Jeff Bohen

Bristol Borough Fire Chief Herb Slack on Tuesday morning released the following statement on last nights Dorrance Street Fire.

It’s only been edited for style:

At 6:11 PM, Bristol Borough Fire Companies were dispatched to 340 Dorrance St for a dwelling fire with possible entrapment. The first arriving fire chief found two semi-detached dwellings with exposures on both sides. He immediately asked for the second alarm because of the volume of fire in the two dwellings and rapidly spreading to the exposures.

Fire companies quickly stretched hose lines to protect the exposures and begin extinguishing the fire in the two dwelling. A third alarm was added for additional manpower.

Credit: Submitted

During fire fighting operations, it was determined that there was a one resident had not gotten out of the dwelling. Due to the intense fire, with the first floors fully involved, firefighters were not able to enter the dwelling to attempt to rescue a residents who was wheel-chair bound and had been unable to escape. There was one additional civilian injury and that person was transported to the hospital with possible smoke inhalation. There were no firefighter injuries.

Credit: Joe Nelson

Fire was placed under control at 7:39 PM. Fire companies remained on location for several hours due to the extensive overhauling to ensure the fire was extinguished. The last fire company left at 11:26 PM.

Mutual aid companies supporting fire fighting operations including fire companies from Bristol Township, Bensalem, Falls Township, Middletown Township, Morrisville and Burlington County.

The fire remains under investigation by Bristol Borough and the Bucks County Fire Marshal’s Office.

Cops

Emergency Crews Prepare for Incoming Blizzard as Lower Bucks Municipalities Declare Storm Plans

Published

2 weeks ago

February 21, 2026

Joanne Ames

Credit:: Veinna Carcel

Lower Bucks municipalities have declared disaster/snow emergencies in advance of the expected snow storm that the National Weather Service says will dump anywhere between 14 to 18 inches on the area.

A winter storm warning is still in effect from Sunday, Feb 22 to Monday, Feb 23.

Each municipality has its own link. For more information and updates, please click on their associated link.

Bensalem Township – Disaster Emergency declared immediately for the pending snow storm. Click here to see more details.

Bristol Borough – Snow information/requirements have been posted on their website. Click here to see the details.

Bristol Township – Snow Emergency effective 12 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 22, 2026 through 12 a.m. Tuesday, Feb. 24, 2026. Click here to see more details.

Falls Township – Snow Emergency starts Sunday, Feb. 22 at 6 p.m. and expires on Tuesday, Feb. 24 at 6 a.m. Click here for details.

Langhorne Borough – Snow Emergency starts Sunday, Feb. 22 at noon until Tuesday, Feb. 24 at 10 a.m. No parking. Click here for details.

Lower Makefield Township – Snow information has been posted on Meta. Click here to see the details.

Middletown Township – Snow Emergency is in effect from Sunday, Feb. 22 at 12 p.m. to Monday, Feb. 23 at 12 p.m. . Click here to see details.

Morrisville Borough – Snow Emergency is in effect from Sunday, Feb. 22 at 5 p.m. to Monday, Feb. 23 at 5 p.m. Click here to see the details.

Newtown Township – A Snow Emergency is in effect from 4 p.m. on Sunday, Feb. 22, 2026 until 4 p.m. on Monday, Feb. 23, 2026. Click here to see the details.

Penndel Borough – Snow Emergency has been declared from 12 p.m. on Sunday, February 22, 2026, through 12 p.m. on Monday, February 23, 2026. Click here for more details and click here for more on the ordinance.

Tullytown Borough – Snow Emergency proclamation in effect from Sunday Feb. 22 – 6 p.m. to Monday Feb. 23 – 6 p.m. Click here to see more details.

Warminster Township – Disaster Emergency has been declared for the incoming snow storm, effective Sunday Feb. 22, 2026 at 12 p.m. through Tuesday, Feb. 24,2026 at 12 p.m.. Click here to see the details and click here to see the declaration from Township Manager Tom Scott.

Yardley Borough – Snow Emergency proclamation in effect from Sunday Feb. 22 – 4 p.m. to Monday Feb. 23 – 4 p.m. . Click here to see the details. and click here to see declaration/other information from Mayor Caroline Thompson.

The primary concern is safety. Take care of yourselves and check on neighbors and those who may be vulnerable.

Please stay safe, take all necessary precautions, and keep your devices charged.

Click here for updates from the National Weather Service

Click here for PECO’s outage map.

Cops, Courts & Fire -Bristol Borough

Cops: Bristol Man Charged with Robbery; Suspect Identified Via Sports Jacket Seen on Video During Altercation

Published

2 weeks ago

February 17, 2026

Jeff Bohen

A Bristol Borough man was taken into custody and jailed Friday night accused of robbery, simple assault, criminal mischief and disorderly conduct stemming from a Jan. 26 incident at the Sunoco Gas Station on Bath Road and Rt 13.

According to the affidavit of probable cause, Bristol Borough Police were dispatched to the gas station/convenience store at 10:45 p.m by 911 after the assault/robbery was called in by gas station staff.

Responding police officers met with the employee who said two men entered the store and one attempted to rob him, assaulted him, damaged the store and then fled on foot. The employee said one of the two suspects reached through the safety glass that is usually in place during night hours, punching him in the face and neck area several times and breaking his glasses, the criminal complaint alleges.

Officers noted, in the probable cause, visible bruising on the employee’s face from the robbery assault. In addition, there were a number of store items damaged.

The victim told police the direction the suspects fled which officers canvassed and came up empty in the suspect search.

On Jan 27 officers reviewed gas station security video footage (no audio) showing, according to the probable cause, Mark Rodriguez (who police had yet to identify) getting into an argument with the victim, reaching underneath the security window, pulling it up and pummeling the victim.

The unidentified man with Rodriguez remained nearby but was on his cell phone, police said, at the time of the assault and was wearing a Bristol High School sports jacket.

Bristol Borough Police identified the owner of the jacket (a minor) with help from school district officials. The minor provided a written statement to police identifying a family member of his/hers (Rodriguez) as the suspect who assaulted the Sunoco Gas Station employee and that he was present for the altercation.

The written statement was facilitated by Bristol Borough Middle/High School Lead Teacher Mike Poploskie, and sent via email to lead investigator/officer Chris Tehan. Subsequently police were able to confirm Rodriguez’s identity and that he lives on the 150 block of Otter Street.

About one week later, police met with the parents of the student who was present at the altercation in which the minor was interviewed by police.

The youngster provided police with a “voluntary” statement confirming his/her previous written statement and allowing police to have a warrant issued for Rodriguez’s arrest.

Rodriguez was arraigned by on-call District Judge Mark D. Douple last Friday on robbery and related counts. He set bail at 10 percent of $75,000.00 and remanded Rodriguez to Bucks County Jail until his next hearing date, currently set for Feb 25.