Although the city has experienced a setback in regard to the proposed Sullivan Run bridge-replacement project, it would be foolhardy to move ahead with work that won't achieve the maximum benefits that such a project could provide. As Freda Tarbell, a state Department of Environmental Protection spokesperson from the DEP regional office in Meadville, Crawford County, told the Butler Eagle Tuesday, no one wants an end product that people will regret.

The city already has plenty to regret in regard to its crumbling infrastructure. If something is going to be done, it should be done correctly and without wasting money.

Still, it's unfortunate that planning for the replacement of bridges on West Penn, West Brady and West New Castle streets has been under way for so long - 13 years - and only now, about a year ahead of construction, that a feasibility study connected with the proposed Sullivan Run flood-control project has determined that designs proposed for the three replacement bridges don't meet the project's flood-control needs. Specifically, the bridges, as currently proposed, would not have big enough openings under the spans to accommodate floodwaters.

If the bridges were to be built as currently envisioned, the effectiveness of the Sullivan Run flood-control project would be compromised because the bridges, instead of working in concert with the other aspects of the flood-control initiative to minimize flooding, would instead be working against what the project is aimed at accomplishing. Because the new bridges would impede the flow of heavy volumes of water, as the current spans do, the flooding fears that remain a constant for property owners near Sullivan Run anytime there is heavy rain or fast snow melt-off would continue to exist, despite the more than $4 million of work that the flood-control project is targeted to entail.

According to Tarbell, it was only late last year that hydrology (surface water runoff) and hydraulics (determination of channel capacity) studies were completed for the flood-control project. Those studies confirmed the flaw in the bridge designs.

She said the city and state Department of Transportation, which is helping to oversee the bridge-design process for the city-owned bridges, were notified about the under-the-bridges space problem in November or December. Now the city is faced with what should be an obvious decision - not to opt for an inadequate resolution of the flooding issue, even though residents in the vicinity of the stream won't be accorded for several more years the kind of flooding peace of mind that they desire.

It has been estimated that the current glitch could push replacement of the bridges back to 2009 or 2010, although Tarbell said Tuesday that DEP would be seeking ways to help minimize delays regarding the spans and for keeping other aspects of the flood-control-project planning moving forward.

Meanwhile, PennDOT is acknowledging the importance of the latest DEP determination while pointing out that the bridge-design process began without the knowledge that a flood-control project of the scope in the works would be in Sullivan Run's future, and without the kind of data that are now available.

Some aspects of the Sullivan Run feasibility study remain unfinished but Tarbell said what is important at this juncture is that the hydrology and hydraulics information has been ascertained, providing a clearer focus on what needs to be done.

Amid the new scenario, the city's concerns about where the money will come from to pay for the additional planning work is justified. Financially troubled Butler must be concerned about every dollar, and all unanticipated expenditures represent a setback for the municipality.

It is within the realm of such concern over who will pay for the additional design work that state and federal lawmakers representing the city should become involved.

The city has applied to the Federal Emergency Management Agency for money to make temporary repairs to the West Brady Street span, both to allow restoration of its former 5-ton weight limit - the limit currently is 3 tons as a result of damage from last September's flooding - and, more importantly, to allow the bridge to remain open to traffic until construction of a new span begins.

Indefinite closing of any of the spans would pose a serious headache for motorists.

Some Sullivan Run area property owners are no doubt frustrated by the troubling bridge development - especially those who have had to replace items such as hot-water tanks on a number of occasions due to recurrent flooding damage. However, in this case, it would appear that the additional delay will result in a better situation for the long term.

Officials involved with the flood-control initiative won't merit criticism regarding this setback as long as they work expeditiously to overcome it - in the city's best interests.