Around The Town

Great hoppin' horny-toads, would it kill CSX Railroad to fix the River Road grade crossing under the 15th Avenue Bridge in Port Vue? Motorists heading southbound over that crossing --- which was never the picture of smooth driving anyway --- are getting a nasty surprise.

Apparently the railroad pulled the crossing up to replace either rails or ties or both. Part of the paving in the southbound lane is now missing and is instead packed with ballast --- that's the crushed stone that supports railroad tracks.

But the ballast is getting pushed down below the level of the rails, which means that if you stay in your lane, you get a big jolt --- kapow! --- as your passenger side wheels go over them.

Eventually, I fear someone is going to either rip the undercarriage out of their car, or get hung up on the tracks and be struck by a train. (Besides this clown, I mean.)

That crossing is already a pain in the keister because the gates have a bad habit of malfunctioning and getting stuck in a "fail-safe" position --- one up, one down, lights blinking. I've reported it at least twice myself.

Well, Tube City Almanac decided to take action for you. I've got an email into a spokesman at CSX to find out when the crossing is being fixed, and when (if?) I get an answer, I'll let you know.

And yes, I'm sure an $8.6 billion railroad trembles at the thought of having a mediocre, poorly sourced webpage mad at it!

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P.S.: If you've got a railroad crossing problem, you can also go to the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission's website and file a complaint.

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The Post-Gazette has a lovely "slideshow" on its website about what it calls "The Jewel of McKeesport" --- no, not the Viking Lounge, the Arboretum (and the rose gardens in particular) in Renziehausen Park. Created in 1938, the Arboretum is maintained by the Garden Club of McKeesport and the Pittsburgh Rose Society.

According to GardenWeb.com, the Renzie Arboretum is considered one of the "great gardens" of Pennsylvania, with more than 1,200 roses arranged in 28 beds, plus three additional raised rose beds of 300 bushes. It's also one of only 130 public rose gardens in the U.S. accredited by a non-profit organization of rose enthusiasts and growers, All-America Rose Selections.

That organization named one of the Rose Society's members, John Consigliero, "Evaluator of the Year" in 2002 for his work on the Arboretum, according to the society's website.

Though you can visit the arboretum any time during daylight hours this summer, I think the Rose Society has a public show and picnic each year around July, but unfortunately, the website hasn't been updated for a while ... you may want to watch the papers for an announcement. (Or maybe some horticulture buff will email this website if he or she knows the details ... hint, hint, hint.)

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Finally, since I bolloxed this up a few weeks ago, I'll try to get it right this time ... the McKeesport City Carnival starts at 6 tonight at Renzie and runs through Saturday. "Ride all night" passes are only $10. Visit the Recreation Committee's website for details.

And the fourth public "lunch on the lawn" of this summer will be held tomorrow starting at 11 a.m. at Kelly Park, located on Walnut Street, Downtown, between Shaw and Sixth avenues.