Category: News || By

Winter's snow and spring's thaws have caused the already horrific surface of West Fifth Avenue to become almost impassable due to potholes.

City Administrator Dennis Pittman jokes that Mother Nature has answered any doubts as to whether there were still trolley tracks under the pavement.

But Pittman and other city officials haven't been laughing about the year-long delay in repaving the four-lane street, which connects Downtown with Glassport via the 10th Ward and serves as a main artery for visitors approaching McKeesport from West Mifflin and Pittsburgh.

. . .

The waiting is finally coming to an end. On Thursday, the state Department of Transportation is scheduled to open bids for reconstructing West Fifth Avenue, Pittman says.

State officials last April approved the city's request for about $1 million to repave the street and remove the trolley tracks --- last used in 1963 --- that have caused potholes and other problems for decades.

But the Pennsylvania General Assembly didn't pass a budget until October --- 101 days late, and after the construction season had ended and asphalt plants had closed.

Once the bids are opened and approved, a contract to reconstruct the street and remove the tracks could be awarded at the April 7 council meeting, Pittman says.

. . .

Back in 1987, the now-defunct Mon Valley Commission, a study group appointed by the Allegheny County commissioners, recommended reconstructing West Fifth Avenue, but no money was ever provided to remove the trolley tracks.

With those tracks lurking just below the road's surface, past pothole repairs and repaving projects have been temporary bandages at best.

About 21,000 vehicles use West Fifth Avenue daily, according to PennDOT statistics.

. . .

If the bids aren't ready for council's April 7 meeting, City Solicitor J. Jason Elash says a special meeting would likely be called to hurry the process along. "I suspect that the second those bids were ready, the meeting would be called," Elash says.

"We're as anxious as the citizens to get that road fixed," Pittman says.

. . .

In a related story, city officials are apologizing for their failure to attend a March 24 meeting on the reconstruction of the W.D. Mansfield Memorial Bridge, which crosses the Monongahela River between McKeesport and Dravosburg. About 13,000 cars use the bridge every day.

The reconstruction of the county-owned span --- originally slated for last year --- has been delayed several times and is now scheduled for 2011.

Under the terms of a 1949 ruling by the state Public Utility Commission, county officials are demanding that the city and Glassport Borough pay a combined $270,000 towards rebuilding the ramps on the south end of the bridge.

. . .

City and Glassport officials have argued they shouldn't be held to the terms of a 61-year-old agreement which concerned the relocation of railroad tracks operated by two companies that no longer exist --- the Pittsburgh and Lake Erie and the Pennsylvania.

Pittman says the city's absence from the hearing was accidental and inadvertent, and was the result of illnesses and schedule conflicts. The city has apologized to state Reps. Bill Kortz of Dravosburg and Marc Gergely of White Oak.

According to Pittman, Kortz has told the city he will try to get the PUC's ruling reversed or overturned, by legislation if necessary.

You should type something in the 'comment'-field. Be sure to click on 'Post Comment' to store it permanently.