The old Graffiti Bridge spanning Lake Ontelaunee in Ontelaunee Township is being fenced in to keep people off it, cutting off a longtime, if unofficial, local attraction known for decades of spray-painted layers covering its concrete arches. The barrier marks a new chapter in the slow-moving effort to deal with a structure that has outlived its usefulness as a roadway but never stopped drawing visitors on foot.
A Decaying Landmark Loses Public Access
The fencing was reported Monday by WFMZ.com, which said the bridge in Ontelaunee Township is being enclosed to keep the public away from it. The move follows warnings earlier this year that the span's condition had become too risky to allow continued foot traffic, even though it had already been off-limits to vehicles for about three decades.
According to the Reading Eagle, the bridge is owned by the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation and was closed to vehicular traffic roughly 30 years ago, though it remained accessible to pedestrians in the years since. That access is now the focus of the fencing effort described by WFMZ.
Built Nearly a Century Ago, Now Nearing Removal
The bridge's construction date is itself a small point of historical dispute. The Reading Eagle reported it was built in 1927 by the city's water bureau, while HistoricBridges.org describes it as having been built in 1928 to cross the newly created Ontelaunee Reservoir. Either way, the structure has stood for roughly a century as a 403-foot-long concrete span featuring three open-spandrel arches, per the Reading Eagle's description.
Earlier this year, the Reading Area Water Authority signaled that the bridge's days were numbered. The authority said plans called for removing the bridge within five years, though WFMZ reported that a definitive dismantling date has not yet been announced. Back in August, authority officials indicated an order to close the span to pedestrians was expected within weeks because of its deteriorating condition, and that barriers of dirt and rock were expected to go up at the approaches to keep people out until demolition could happen.
Why the Water Authority Wants It Gone
The push to seal off the bridge isn't just about structural decay. Reading Area Water Authority executive director William Murray told the Reading Eagle that graffiti artists who climb onto the span have been throwing their paint cans over the side, directly into the authority's drinking water supply. The authority operates Reading's water system, which relies primarily on Lake Ontelaunee, an approximately 1,082-acre reservoir located about eight miles north of the city.
The reservoir’s role extends well beyond the bridge’s scenic setting: it is the Reading Area Water Authority’s main source for the city’s water supply. The authority says its Maidencreek Filter Plant can treat up to 40 million gallons daily, while the pumping station averages 15.3 million gallons a day. The authority, created in 1994, operates and maintains Reading’s water system, making the lake a critical piece of public infrastructure as well as a recreation landmark.
Murray drew a comparison to another regional graffiti landmark that met a similar fate, noting that the former Graffiti Highway near Centralia in Columbia County was covered with dirt in 2020 to stop visitors from reaching it. WFMZ's earlier coverage of the bridge likewise noted that Centralia's Graffiti Highway was buried that year, underscoring a pattern of shutting down informal, graffiti-covered sites once they become liability or environmental concerns.
Centralia offers a parallel, but the circumstances were different. The former PA 61 stretch known as Graffiti Highway had been closed in 1993 after damage from the underground mine fire; its landowner covered it with dirt in April 2020 amid concerns about pandemic-era crowds. That closure was driven by crowd concerns, while Ontelaunee’s barriers address the bridge’s deteriorating condition and the risk posed by discarded paint cans near a drinking-water source.
What Comes Next for the Span
The eventual removal of the bridge is already on paper at the regional planning level. The project appears in the Reading Area Transportation Study's 2027–30 Transportation Improvement Program under the listing “Ontelaunee (Lake) Bridge — Bridge Removal,” tied to PennDOT Project ID 10826, according to the Reading Eagle. That same plan lists $1.236 million in project costs running through 2038, with preliminary engineering work scheduled to begin the following year.
The bridge’s inclusion in the regional transportation program puts removal into a formal funding and planning process, but it does not lock in a construction date. Berks County says the 2027–2030 TIP took effect Oct. 1, 2026; the program lists estimated costs and schedules by project phase. The Reading MPO’s executive summary cautions that TIP inclusion is neither a final implementation schedule nor a guarantee that a project will be carried out, leaving room for funding, engineering or schedule changes.
For now, the fencing stands as the most visible sign of change at a site that has drawn curious visitors for years despite its crumbling condition. With no firm demolition date set, the Graffiti Bridge's slow send-off continues, even as the barriers meant to keep people away have already gone up.
