A troublesome section of a Leetsdale road has been realigned after being closed for about a year.
Washington Street had what residents called a hump at the intersection of the former Leet Street Bridge, which was closed to traffic in 2013 and removed in 2017.
The bridge side had been fenced off, and there are stop signs on both sides of Washington Street.
Borough officials said the hump has created many safety concerns over the years, with multiple near collisions.
The road reopened in late March following a major renovation, including moving multiple utilities.
Borough engineer Dan Slagle said finishing touches yet to be completed include final grading, seeding and signage restoration. That’s expected to be done by May.
It will eventually be restored as a three-way stop. Only one stop sign was installed as of presstime.
“The primary reason that the hump was removed was for safety in order to provide safe sight lines so that you could see any oncoming traffic or a person,” Slagle said.
Washington Street ends at Kohlmeyer Park.
Councilman Robert Benedict and his wife, Michelle, live a few blocks away on the other side of the park, and were walking along the street on April 7.
Robert Benedict was impressed with the street’s new look.
Benedict said the hump created a blind spot for motorists and needed to be removed.
Michelle Benedict said a lot of families use the park and should be safer as a result of the realignment.
Resident Paul Bean lives at the intersection. A new wedge curb was installed around his property to help with water runoff to a nearby catch basin.
“It don’t bother me,” Bean said about the construction.
But he’s concerned about people speeding through the area now that the street is flat.
Bean recommended that the borough look into installing speed bumps.
“No matter which way they went, they have to slow down to go over that because they don’t want to bounce all over the place,” Bean said. “You got a stop sign there. Big deal. You don’t have to really stop. Most people don’t.”
Project details
The realignment was a long time coming.
Council unanimously voted June 13, 2024, to award a $211,000 contract to Wampum-based Youngblood Paving.
The hope was to have it done by the end of that year.
Slagle said utility companies, including Edgeworth Water Authority, Columbia Gas, Duquesne Light, Verizon Wireless and Comcast, systematically started relocating their lines in July 2024.
But that work was not completed until last November.
Construction crews began to work on the road that month, but stopped the following month due to cold weather. Work resumed in March.
Slagle said each utility company had to wait until the other one was done in order to move its lines, which was done at no cost to the borough.
He acknowledged some resident complaints about the project taking longer than expected.
Slagle said it was important to have patience and trust the process.
“By working with the various utilities, and there was a number of utilities involved, it saved the borough over $1 million on a road that only cost $210,000 to construct,” Slagle said. “If the borough had fast-tracked the project and moved the utilities themselves, it would have cost the borough over $1 million.
“Because we had a parallel roadway in Monroe Way, it enabled the borough to temporarily close off this section of roadway and allow the utilities to systematically move their lines onto the new poles.
“Now that inclement weather’s broken and good weather is upon us, Youngblood completed the restoration.”