Slip-sliding away
More problems on Commercial Street
After months of problems with landslides from above last spring, motorists on Commercial Street — the main connection between Squirrel Hill and Swisshelm Park — are having more trouble: The street is falling away from underneath.
Because of continuing deterioration of the hillside above the Parkway East, Pittsburgh officials have placed temporary stop signs on Commercial near the Walnut Towers apartments and the Summerset at Frick Park housing complex to limit traffic to one lane. Crews will have to extend a retaining wall about 30 feet to stabilize the road, which could take as long as six months, Karina Ricks, director of the city’s Department of Mobility and Infrastructure, said Friday.
“It’s not going to be a short process. It could take six months,” Ms. Ricks said. “Our goal is to keep traffic open on Commercial the whole time.”
Ms. Ricks said that area has had problems for more than 20 years. The city installed a support wall below the road surface years ago and has extended it twice over the years.
Last year’s record rainfall not only caused last spring’s landslide but likely is responsible for the hill underneath sliding away even more, she said.
Land movement “has been incremental over the last several years, perhaps as long as a decade,” Ms. Ricks said. “There is already a wall below the street there. We’re going to have to extend it again.”
Geo-technical experts are expected to begin drilling test borings in the upcoming week to find rock to anchor the wall extension.
City Councilman Corey O’Connor, who lives in Swisshelm Park, knows the inconvenience firsthand.
“It’s been devastating,” he said.
From last February until September, there were various traffic restrictions — including full closures — while Walnut Capital built a retaining wall behind the apartment complex it owns to control the landslides. The current restriction has a different cause, but it is in the same general area.
“We have not had it easy with the restrictions,” Mr. O’Connor said. “The road definitely needs some more work.”
In addition to the landslide and deterioration problems, he said, the road also needs to be paved. He may ask for it to be included on the city’s paving list this year.
Mr. O’Connor also said he’s hopeful a more permanent solution can be developed as part of the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation’s plans in the next five years to rehabilitate the Parkway East bridge just past the outbound end of the Squirrel Hill Tunnel. The part of Commercial Street that is falling away sits above the highway and a total collapse would cause a major problem for the interstate.