FAULTY FLOODGATES
Pittsburgh plans to replace system on Washington Boulevard
Chronic technical problems are finally bringing an end to Pittsburgh’s floodgates on Washington Boulevard.
After a partial system failure late Tuesday, city leaders said they will replace the $450,000 equipment that is intended to steer Highland Park drivers away from flash floods in the lowslung area of Washington, Allegheny River and Negley Run boulevards. The state Department of Transportation had the apparatus installed after a flood killed four people there in August 2011.
“I think it’s pretty clear that these problems date to day one. The proper system wasn’t put in,” Dan Gilman, chief of staff to Mayor Bill Peduto, said Wednesday evening.
The city will attempt a partnership with PennDOT to identify a better solution on the state roadway, Mr. Gilman said. PennDOT did not immediately comment.
In the meantime, Pittsburgh police will use barricades as a backup to block traffic when bad weather hits, said Wendell Hissrich, city public safety director. He called the latest mishap a final straw for the automated system, which includes caution signals and three swinging-gate arms. Water sensors at the road level are supposed to trigger them.
One gate arm wouldn’t drop Tuesday when activated manually, according to the city. No injuries were reported.
“I think that the system has never been 100 percent. I lay awake at night worrying that it’s going to rain and the gates won’t go down,” Mr. Hissrich said. “That’s why we have the police officers trained to use barricades to stop the traffic” there.
Upkeep of the system gained widespread attention in August 2016, when a storm flooded Washington Boulevard and stranded several people inside their cars. The gates hadn’t been working. At that point, city officials said the devices had gone three years without inspections, citing uncertainty over whether the city or PennDOT held ownership.
The city has since assumed total control of the system, but technical difficulties continue to crop up. By May 2017, the city had tallied some $90,000 in repairs, parts and upgrades, including improvements then in the works. Mr. Peduto signaled at the time that a complete replacement was possible if maintenance expenses turned untenable.
“Being that it’s repeatedly failed, I don’t think we can afford to wait longer,” Councilman R. Daniel Lavelle said. He chairs the council committee on public safety.
A new complication arose March 6, when a driver crashed into a warning pole and component box for the gate system. The city has been trying to reinstall damaged equipment since then, but system tests have shown inconsistent results, the administration said in a statement. Plus, debris that collects in the roadway can block the sensors designed to activate the technology, Peduto spokesman Timothy McNulty said.
“The problem is, the water and mud are coming down from the hillside above,” Mr. Hissrich said. “Even if you have the catch basins totally cleared, they clog up because of the debris.”
He said city departments and the Pittsburgh Water and Sewer Authority will examine where the water originates.
“The real solution is to mitigate the stormwater and change the road design,” Councilwoman Deborah Gross said in a statement. Her district includes Highland Park.
More immediately, residents will be delighted that a floodgate replacement is in the works, said Jake Pawlak, a neighborhood leader. A timeline for that effort has yet to be determined. For now, the city plans to keep maintaining the established system.
“I wouldn’t say that people are frustrated with any particular party. We’re just eager to have gates that will keep everyone safe,” said Mr. Pawlak, president at the Highland Park Community Council.
Drivers can stay safe in the interim by respecting any barricades that police set up around Washington Boulevard, Mr. Hissrich said. He reported seeing three people drive around the blockades set up amid the rain Tuesday. Police stopped them.
“We have to use some common sense that if you see water, you turn around and don’t drive into standing water or moving water,” Mr. Hissrich said. “It’s a problem.”