The Skinners Falls Bridge crosses the Delaware River, connecting the communities of Milanville, PA, and Skinners Falls, NY.  The 470-foot long historic bridge been closed since October 2019 when an inspection identified timber deck and lateral truss bracing deterioration.

The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT), together with the Federal Highway Administration and New York State Department of Transportation, is conducting a Planning and Environmental Linkages (PEL) Study for the Skinners Falls Bridge. The 45 day comments period on the study
ends Sunday, May 26.

A group of concerned citizens is encouraging a unique form of public comment about the bridge: creative commentary, through the art forms of music, poetry, prose, and visual arts.

We spoke to a few of them on Radio Chatskill: 

• Sheila Dugan is 85 and lives in the Skinner’s House. Her home --like the bridge-- is on the National Register of Historic Places. She is a member of The Milanville Poets and had a career as an activist lawyer. 
• Jeff Dexter lives on Atco Road in Damascus and is a former supervisor and the Damascus representative to the UDC. He crafts American flags usually dedicated to veterans who have served, but the latest one he is dedicating to the bridge and its preservation.
• Cynthia Nash is an artist and advocate. Her recent editorials and other contributions can be seen in The River Reporter and The Scranton Times Tribune. Over 25 years ago, she became the owner of Innisfree, a historic property in the hamlet of Milanville, in sight of the headlights that used to cross the Skinners Falls Bridge.