Beltway erosion controls working, officials contend
The Pennsylvania Turnpike may buy additional property along Route 980 near McDonald, where chronic flooding has become a problem during construction of a bridge above the valley as part of the $800 million Southern Beltway.
But for the most part, engineers said Friday, erosion controls for the project worked well this week despite water runoff problems that hit the area again Monday night.
Two state lawmakers, Sen. Camera Bartolotta, R-Monongahela, and Rep. Jason Ortitay, RBridgeville, sent a letter Tuesday demanding that contractors stop all other work on the 13mile project until the water problems are eliminated. The agency hasn’t formally responded but Brad Heigel, the turnpike’s chief engineer, said he has added crews to deal with the runoff problem.
“I don’t know if it’s necessarily practical to stop,” Mr. Heigel said. “We’re doing everything we can to get this under control. We haven’t turned the other cheek here.
“If we know it’s going to rain, we have people on duty from our contractor [Joseph B. Fay Co.] and our management company [CDR Maguire] to make sure drains are open and handle any problems. We haven’t said ‘no’ to paying for anything that is needed to address this situation.”
The area flooded last spring and summer along Route 980 from the Cecil-McDonald border to the McDonald business district after crews excavated thousands of cubic yards of dirt in preparation for construction of a beltway bridge above the valley. Additional runoff ponds were installed then and seemed to solve the problem.
But when crews built an access road to install beams for
the new bridge last month, the turnpike said, the area was hit with heavy rain before runoff controls could be installed and it flooded again. Monday night, after 2.5 inches of rain fell in about 75 minutes, water and mud hit the area, this time apparently from the neighborhood above Route 980 on Laurel Hill Road.
“I know the people who live there don’t want to hear this, but for the most part, a lot of the drainage systems we put in worked just fine,” Mr. Heigel said. “All of the ponds along 980 all held water [including a new one near the bridge that still is under construction]. If they didn’tthe results would have been devastating.”
Project engineer Matt Burd said one retaining pond installed after last year’s floods did have a problem with water overflowing Monday near the intersection of Route 980 and Reissing Road. Crews have been unable to determine whether someone tampered with silk socks put around it to hold water back or the socks were compromised by the amount of water, he said.
Mr. Heigel said the turnpike likely will make offers to buy a number of properties along Route 980 from 980 Full Service garage to Johns Avenue at the edge of the McDonald business district, where properties have been flooded. The agency has “a couple of ideas” for additional drainage measures there, he said.
In their letter asking for a halt to construction, Ms. Bartolotta and Mr. Ortitay said they “demand that the turnpike and your contractors focus 100 percent of your efforts on completing the storm water retention area and other flood prevention measures before continuing with work on the Southern Beltway project.”
Mr. Heigel said the best course may be to finish the project as soon as possible because the permanent runoff measures will work when the project is done. Unusually heavy rain has hit many communities in Western Pennsylvania the past two years and caused flooding problems, he noted.
He acknowledged this particular section of highway construction has had more problems than the rest of the 13-mile project, but said that is because the new bridge is “a massive undertaking.” The huge pond under construction near the bridge, which held back some water Monday, is part of the permanent runoff plan and should be finished in a few weeks.
“Honestly, I thought we had most of this behind us after the changes we made last year,” Mr. Heigel said. “It definitely has been a struggle. It frustrates me as much as it frustrates the residents.
“But we’ll continue to work until we get it right.”