CENTER TWP — Officials for Center and Butler townships are sending PennDOT a message concerning comments about keeping open the Lions Road Bridge: Put it in writing.

The two boards of supervisors met jointly Monday night at the Center Township Municipal Building to pass a resolution requesting the state Department of Transportation formally commit to rebuilding the bridge.

Status of the bridge, which spans Route 422 in Butler Township, has caused some confusion and anxiety since late July when a PennDOT engineer sent an e-mail to officials in both townships noting collision damage to the bridge that would call for an unbudgeted replacement of the bridge’s superstructure.

At that time, the engineer said the state was considering vacating the bridge. Later, the state told the media it has no plans to close the bridge. Since then, Center Township received by mail an unsigned letter from PennDOT making similar statements.

The officials are worried that if the bridge is closed, traffic would be pushed onto other local roads that are prone to flooding, the travel time for emergency responders would increase and operation costs related to maintenance and snow removal would increase.

The officials said they also plan to send a copy of the resolution to the county commissioners, state legislators and Gov. Tom Corbett.

In the meantime, both PennDOT’s communications and local officials agree the bridge is safe for drivers.