The state Department of Transportation offers a weak excuse in trying to justify why it wants to reduce the width of a curve at Center and Fairview avenues tied to construction of the new Wayne Street Viaduct.

Jim Andrews, a PennDOT bridge engineer, and Rich Gill, project manager, said the intersection was modified from the original width planned because the wider intersection would leave pedestrians in the street too long.

That logic is flawed, if only because of the small volume of pedestrian traffic that routinely uses that intersection.

If it's money that's really the main concern regarding the Wayne Street span, PennDOT ought to admit it.

But even if money is the issue, Butler doesn't deserve to be shortchanged. The city has waited too long for this project to have it scaled back so late in the planning process.

The project must be built to properly accommodate the truck traffic that will use it; the community should accept nothing less.

The current Wayne Street span is 91 years old. Butler shouldn't have to wait any longer for another attempt to accomplish what this project has the potential to accomplish at this time.

In numerous intersections in Pittsburgh, pedestrians have a much longer trek than would be necessary with the wider Wayne Street intersection. Yet, except during rush hours, traffic moves through that bigger city without the maddening delays that afflict PennDOT routes throughout this city.

PennDOT shouldn't try to create the perception that pedestrians using the new, wider intersection would create a new problem.

It's common knowledge that a highway construction/repairs money crunch will be limiting what the state will be able to accomplish in the years ahead without more funds.

But the Wayne Street project has been in the planning stages for years and it shouldn't be adversely reworked just one year away from the start of construction.

The project is in the final design phase, and that final design should reflect the intersection's importance not only to the new Wayne Street span, but also as a potential asset in removing some of the truck traffic from Main Street in the future.

Some local officials and residents envision that intersection as a valuable component in developing a Main Street bypass, and PennDOT is aware of that positive potential.

Instead of hiding behind the excuse that "we never promised that would be the way the intersection would be built," PennDOT should quickly begin another round of open dialogue with the community regarding its new thinking — and listen to what the community thinks.

The community shouldn't accept this weak example of PennDOT reasoning.

It's true that the city should be grateful that the current dilapidated bridge will be gone before the end of this decade, but that shouldn't signal a willingness to accept a new bridge that will be substandard in terms of meeting the city's needs.