By Betsy Brewer Brantner
Contributing Writer

At the Dec. 2 council meeting, Oxford Borough officials and the public were questioning why the Borough of Oxford did not receive notice during the recent closure of the bridge on Route 10 after it was struck by a truck, which was over the height limit, that resulted in a two-day construction process by PennDOT. The situation was made worse since it happened during a holiday weekend with heavy traffic.

In an email to Lower Oxford Township, The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) announced that emergency repairs were underway to reopen the bridge carrying traffic on Route 10 (Limestone Road) over U.S. 1 (Kennett Oxford Bypass) in Lower Oxford Township, Chester County, following a bridge strike by a large truck on Friday morning, Nov. 28.

Unfortunately, neither Oxford Borough Council or the Oxford Police Department were notified of the closure, according to a discussion at the council meeting just three days after the incident. What ensued was bumper-to-bumper congestion on borough streets. To make matters worse, drivers unfamiliar with the borough were traveling on a street that was closed to traffic due to construction.

The PennDOT notice continued by saying, “U.S. 1 North (Kennett Oxford Bypass) is closed between the Route 472 (Lancaster Pike) and Route 10 (Limestone Road) interchanges. Motorists will be directed to exit at Route 472 (Lancaster Pike), turn right onto Route 472 (Lancaster Pike), and turn left onto Route 10 (3rd Street) to access the ramp to U.S. 1 North (Kennett Oxford Bypass).”

Since many out-of-towners traveling for the holidays were on unfamiliar roads in the area, it also made it difficult for people in the borough to even get out of their driveways on some streets.

Resident George Jones, who lives on East Mt. Vernon said, “We couldn't get out of our driveway. People were flying down the road and someone actually removed a sign that indicated that the road was under construction and only open to local traffic. It was a nightmare for anyone living on that street. One of the drivers, who was speeding down the road, actually hit and killed our cat, which upset us terribly. However, it could have been worse, it could have been a person.” 

The bridge in question was located in Lower Oxford Township, but borough residents and council members were left questioning why they received no notice, since Lower Oxford borders on the borough and traffic was being directed to the borough’s streets by PennDOT. This is not the first time that PennDOT seemed to be oblivious to the fact that boundary of Lower Oxford Township ends on one side of N. 3rd Street and the other side of N. 3rd is in Oxford Borough.

Understanding that fact might have alleviated some of the problems that occurred.

Council member Peggy Russell said, “Had we known, we could have given the police and public works employees a heads up.”

Built in 1968, the 150-foot-long, 45-foot-wide, two-span, pre-stressed concrete I-beam bridge carries approximately 9,000 vehicles per day. U.S. Route 1 North (Kennett Oxford Bypass) in this section carries approximately 8,600 vehicles per day.

It is not hard to imagine that dumping that much traffic into the borough’s streets without notice created numerous problems.

PennDOT said their contractor, J.D. Eckman, Inc., worked quickly over the weekend to replace the bridge beam and concrete barrier before re-striping the bridge and reopening both highways. The roadways were reopened on Dec. 1 so the at least he inconveniences were minimized.

In other business at the Dec. 2 meeting, Oxford Borough Council approved the advertising of ordinance changes regarding disorderly conduct and disturbances and fire prevention and protection codes.

Oxford Borough Manager Pauline Garcia-Allen explained that even though the amendment changes were already in the works, some of the changes were moved forward due to the horrific fire in the business district of Oxford more than  two years ago.

“The intent of these ordinances is to give the borough the authority to inspect non-residential properties,” Garcia-Allen said. “We already inspect apartments. However, many apartments are located above commercial properties. This will enable us to make sure the commercial properties below them are up to life safety standards. We will now adopt the International Fire Code.”

Garcia-Allen added, “We researched other municipalities to see how they do it. Some of those municipalities have their own fire marshals. Our fire marshal is the chief of the fire company, but he works outside of the area. We will use our code enforcement officer to ensure the life safety of properties. We will require our commercial properties to be inspected every year. We realize some other agencies may also inspect the same items we do. If so, and property owners  provide us with that information, we will not duplicate the inspections. A list of the items that will be inspected will be given to property owners in advance.” 

The following motions were also approved by borough council:

• The authorization to advertise an update to the ordinance regarding off-street metered parking;
• An amendment to the master services agreement between the Borough of Oxford and Gannett Fleming, Inc,. which is the borough's engineer;
• The Enox Land, LP extension request from time to satisfy conditions of approval related to the Moran Farm Development through and including June 21, 2026;
• Sycamore Crossing Phase 3, Escrow Release #8 in the amount of $22,843.13 and Phase 5B, Escrow Release #8 in the amount of 10,951.36;
• An agreement with the County of Chester for property tax collection services for 2026;
• A resolution #1409-2025 authorizing collection of certain municipal taxes by the Chester County treasurer;
• A letter of support for Union Fire Company’s Local Share Account Fund Statewide (SLSA) grant application to support the purchase of a new fire engine;

The next Oxford Borough Council meeting will be held on Monday, Dec. 15 at 7 p.m. at the Borough Hall.