BUTLER TWP — A controversial bridge removal project was revived Monday by state transportation officials in the northwestern part of the township.

State officials are looking at “various alternatives” but are focused on the removal of Lions Road Bridge over Route 422 because of “substandard” conditions that would be created by any repair work, said project engineer David Layman with the state Department of Transportation.

Layman said replacing the bridge would require raising its deck two and a half feet higher, creating steep connecting slopes to the road that could be hazardous in winter.

He said PennDOT also is leery of a replacement project because it would result in displacing the residents of one or two homes.

The two alternatives being publicly considered are multi-million-dollar projects that would build a new section of road linking Lions Road north of Route 422 with the nearby interchange of Route 422 and New Castle Road. Both options also would make improvements to the interchange, which was left unfinished and is missing three connecting ramps.

The projects would involved building 1,500 to 2,000 feet of new road through the residentially-zoned “Bocci Property” according to a conceptual layout provided to Butler Township by PennDOT.

That new road would connect New Castle Road with Lions Road. Under one potential plan it would include interchange improvements on both sides of Route 422 to allow access from the north side of Lions Road.

The cost of that work is estimated about $2.4 million, Layman said.

If officials decide to fully reconstruct the interchange’s three missing ramps — which would install two loop ramps and one off ramp connected to Route 422 — the cost rises to about $5 million, Layman said.

Replacing Lions Road Bridge itself would cost about $3.2 million.

The project is in preliminary design, Layman said, meaning it still has a long way to go before construction is expected to begin in late 2017.