Councilman at-large David Oh introduced a bill to amend the Philadelphia Home Rule Charter addressing concerns regarding deteriorating bridges and other structures that are not owned by the city of Philadelphia.

“I’ve gone to various neighborhoods across the city and come across very frustrated residents who complained about deteriorating bridges and roads, not owned by the city,” Oh said. "They are call orphan bridges or unclaimed roads."

On Thursday the councilman said he is proposing an amendment to the charter that would give power to the Department of Streets to pursue the private owners of those overpasses to repair and maintain streets (including highways, roads, alleyways, footways, bridges, tunnels, overpasses, and underpasses) that are not owned, controlled, or operated by the city.

“I do understand about the railroads and do question particular overpasses and bridges that connect either public roads and go over a rail line or are a private property bridge that is a rail line above a public street that, after decades of use and deterioration, becomes a hazard and a danger to the pedestrians and drivers in Philadelphia,” Oh said. “I believe it is important that these private owners maintain these passageways and otherwise provide some type of funding to the city to ensure that we can populate them safely.”

The department would have the authority to compel the owner of the deteriorating street with fines or other legal actions to perform the necessary work to remediate the peril.

“Non-city owners of such deteriorating infrastructures are not accepting responsibility for remediating the corrosion that increases danger to nearby pedestrians and drivers,” Oh said. “As a matter of public safety, it is critical that the city take action to have the owner remediate the danger, or to do the remediation itself and recover the costs.”