MIDDLEBURG -- Everybody loves a parade, even the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation.

PennDOT hopes to have the Route 522 bridge ready in time for paraders to march through downtown Middleburg next week. The bridge is currently blocked for a replacement project: the state is spending more than $1 million to remove the 75-year-old steel bridge and swap it for a more modern blacktop model.

PennDOT doesn't expect to have the new bridge in and the road open again until mid-August, however, meaning they're making a special temporary exception for tubas, trombones and fanfare.

"We've hoping to have enough of the paving done for them to cross the bridge," said Rick Mason, PennDOT spokesman.

The state began the Route 522 bridge replacement project in April.

Before that, Mason said, "the old bridge was becoming a real maintenance headache."

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