Drivers no longer have to navigate what one official labeled “the worst bridge in Cambria County.”

But even as officials on Saturday celebrated the opening of Johnstown’s new Coopersdale Bridge, they noted that the project is but one piece of a statewide push to fix or replace deteriorated spans.

That effort has been evident in the Greater Johnstown area: Bridge projects that have been completed this year, along with projects that are ongoing or in the planning phase, carry a combined price tag of more than $32 million.

“The governor has worked hard to solve our bridge problem in Pennsylvania,” said Tom Prestash, district executive for PennDOT District 9.

Prestash was among those on hand Saturday afternoon when police vehicles escorted the first drivers across the new, 277-foot-long Coopersdale Bridge, which carries Route 403 over the Conemaugh River.

Also opening Saturday was a new section of Laurel Avenue that was constructed to align with the bridge.

Crews still must demolish the old Coopersdale Bridge, which dated to 1923 and was deemed structurally deficient. Prestash said it was the No. 1 bridge in Cambria County on a list of 1,145 spans that have been targeted for construction statewide.

It’s called the “accelerated bridge program,” and officials say it represents a big investment that is making a difference.

“For the first time in 10 years, we have reversed what had been a steady upward climb in the number of structurally deficient bridges” across Pennsylvania, said Rich Kirkpatrick, a Penn-DOT spokesman in Harrisburg.

Statistics show the scale of that effort: The state’s bridge investment has risen from

$259 million in 2002 to more than $1.5 billion this year, Kirkpatrick said.

Last fiscal year, PennDOT started work on 470 bridges statewide.

In this fiscal year, another 403 projects will begin – all on structurally deficient bridges.

The Johnstown area has seen its share of that work. Two projects with a combined cost of $4.8 million – on the Ferndale and Krings bridges – were finished this year.

The ongoing Coopersdale project carries a $10.3 million price tag.

And more projects are on the way:

n Next year, crews are scheduled to begin replacing the Locust Street Bridge – which links Johnstown and Franklin Borough – and rehabilitating the Strank Memorial Bridge connecting Franklin with East Conemaugh Borough.

The job will cost $14 million.

n A PennDOT spokeswoman said planning continues for work on the Riverside Bridge at the bottom of Eisenhower Boulevard and the Tire Hill Bridge in Conemaugh Township, Somerset County.

Both of those spans date to the 1930s.

n PennDOT also is planning to replace Johnstown’s Napoleon Street Bridge, also known as the Edward A. Silk Memorial Bridge.

Though construction is not scheduled to begin until 2012, a public meeting and plan display is scheduled for 6:30 p.m.

Dec. 2 in Johnstown City Council chambers at the Public Safety Building, 401 Washington St.

Overall, Prestash said, the number of state-owned structurally deficient bridges has dropped from 80 to 59 in Cambria County since 2003.

Statewide, there are 5,783 structurally deficient spans – down from a high of 6,034 in 2008.

Federal stimulus money has provided a boost for transportation projects. But it’s clear that all of this bridge spending has hampered PennDOT’s budget for highway work.

“If you’re focusing more on bridges, you’re not focusing quite as much on pavement,” Kirkpatrick said. “But we’re trying to manage that as well as we can.”

Prestash acknowledged the same dilemma locally.

But he added that PennDOT is not ignoring road maintenance. Of the 741 miles of state road in Cambria County, he said, the amount rated “poor” has decreased from 16 percent to 10 percent since 2003.

“It’s about trying to figure out the most effective use of our resources,” Prestash said.