CENTER TWP — Officials for Center and Butler townships have sent 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 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 it. Since then, Center Township received by mail an unsigned letter from PennDOT making similar statements.

But the officials say reports of PennDOT’s plans to close the bridge have been around for years. And they’re worried that if it 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 resolution passed unanimously by the officials in attendance, Ed Latuska, Allen Smallwood and Andrew Erie, all Center supervisors; and Dave Zarnick, Sam Zurzolo, Joe Hasychak and Charles Nedz, all Butler Township commissioners.

The resolution requests confirmation from PennDOT’s District 10, “that a firm commitment is made to provide engineering funding and construction of a new bridge ... within the near future.”

Ed Kirkwood, Butler Township manager, said they’d like to see that in a written preliminary engineering study, a full construction design and a funding plan from an engineer or “someone who has the authority to speak for PennDOT.”

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

They talked about possibly inviting those people out to see the bridge. Meantime, both PennDOT’s communications and local officials agree the bridge is safe for drivers.