Work to bring back lights to the Apollo Bridge likely to require more time

The lights will be out for a while longer on the Apollo Bridge.

Apollo officials were trying to get the lights back on but, according to West Penn Power, the ball now is in Oklahoma Borough’s court.

Motorists have been in the dark on the bridge since the lights went out late last year.

The bridge spans the Kiski River, connecting Oklahoma and Apollo.

West Penn Power sent electricians to troubleshoot the four lights that are out and found that three of them are on the Oklahoma side of the bridge, while one is on the Apollo side, according to Todd Meyers, West Penn Power spokesman.

The West Penn Power electricians found there is no power reaching the lights.

“Their circuit breaker may have tripped, their circuit breaker may have broken or the underground wires that feed the lights may have gone bad,” Meyers said.

West Penn Power has a maintenance agreement for the lights and has responsibility for the bulbs and a sensor to turn the lights on and off.

Apparently, the light problems are not covered by the maintenance agreement, according to Meyers.

However, in the case of the one light on the Apollo side, which is out because of a bad head lamp, West Penn will replace it “although, it is not part of the maintenance agreement,” Meyers said.

The three lights on the Oklahoma side are a different story. West Penn does not know why they are out, he said.

“We told Oklahoma about our finding and they will send out an electrician,” he said.

“I hope they get the lights on soon. It’s a safety issue,” Apollo Council Vice President Diane Bradshaw said.

Mary Ann Thomas is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Mary Ann at 724-226-4691, mthomas@tribweb.com or via Twitter @MaThomas_Trib.