A gate across a private road in Gilpin continues to draw the ire of some residents, but there’s little the township can do about it.
The gate, erected earlier this year across Upper Godfrey Road near Lower Allegheny Drive, is a safety hazard, according to complaints from residents, who say it blocks access to homes and cottages in a flood-prone section of the township along the Allegheny River.
Both roads in that area are privately owned and not under control of the township.
The latest dustup over the gate came during this week’s township supervisors meeting, with residents directing their anger toward Supervisor Jeremy Smail, who put up the gate.
“You decided to stop all of Godfrey’s emergency way out,” said Upper Godfrey resident Dave Booth.
Booth said Upper Godfrey Road floods about three times a year because it sits along the Allegheny River.
He said trees fall and block the road often enough that residents exit using Lower Allegheny Drive when needed, and campers in the adjacent former Johnetta Campground have done the same through Upper Godfrey over the years. Booth claimed the gate presents a safety issue and could effectively leave residents on both roads stranded in an emergency.
“Everybody knows that the first place that floods when the river floods is the creek right at the end of Godfrey hill,” said Upper Godfrey resident Vince Mildner. “Everybody from there, all the way toward Johnetta (Road) has no escape right now because of that gate.”
Smail, who announced in March he erected the gate, said he did so at the request of the road’s owner, Armstrong Trails. Upper Godfrey runs parallel to the Armstrong Trail in that area and is owned by the trail.
Chris Ziegler, executive director of Armstrong Trails, confirmed she asked Smail to put up the gate after receiving multiple complaints from Upper Godfrey residents that Johnetta campers were using the private roads, and from campers claiming Godfrey residents were using the trail’s road.
“We’re trying to be friendly to our neighbors,” she said. “I also don’t want trail users trespassing and parking on private property.”
Smail and his wife, Leechburg Area School Board President Ashley Coudriet, own the former Johnetta Campground, now called White Rock Station, which runs along Lower Allegheny Drive, also owned by Armstrong Trails.
Smail said he shares an exclusive right of way agreement with Armstrong Trails, which he inherited when he bought the Johnetta property last summer, and has a right to enforce Ziegler’s wishes to keep trespassers off the private road. As for supervisors, Smail said it simply isn’t a township issue.
“Trail property. Trail gate,” Smail said.
Smail also has a gate on Lower Allegheny Drive where it becomes private property.
As for the worries about safety, Ziegler said there are keys to the gate available for all emergency services. First responders have a universal key that open lock boxes on or near locked structures that block roads on trail property.
“All EMS, fire and police departments have access to those keys,” she said. “It’s no different than gates on the trail.”