Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

PA Lawmaker Drops Plan To Name Bridge For Biden

Google Maps
The Col. Frank Duffy Bridge in Scranton, Pa., also known as the Harrison Avenue Bridge, which a Pa. lawmaker wanted to name after former Vice President Joe Biden, not knowing it was already named for a veteran.

A Pennsylvania lawmaker has dropped his efforts to name a bridge after former Vice President Joe Biden.

Scranton City Council opposed the move by Democratic state Rep. Kevin Haggerty because the bridge being built in Biden's hometown is already named for a veteran. It honors Col. Frank Duffy, the highest-ranking soldier from Scranton to die in World War I.

Haggerty says he wasn't aware the bridge was already named for a veteran when he proposed naming it for Biden last week.

Democratic state Sen. John Blake sponsored the 2015 bill to name the bridge after Duffy.

Republican state Sen. John Rafferty, who chairs the Senate Transportation Committee, says the committee typically names bridges only for fallen veterans or first responders.

The Associated Press is one of the largest and most trusted sources of independent newsgathering, supplying a steady stream of news to its members, international subscribers and commercial customers. AP is neither privately owned nor government-funded; instead, it's a not-for-profit news cooperative owned by its American newspaper and broadcast members.