Pa. Turnpike acquires last properties to fix landslide in Donegal

After more than two years of acquiring property and design work, the Pennsylvania Turnpike expects to begin repairs this fall on a landslide along the westbound lanes in Donegal.

The slide area covers about 1,000 feet of the hillside just below Main Street in Donegal. The hillside collapsed Feb. 15, 2018, at westbound mile marker 90.3, pushing away a barrier and spilling onto the berm of the toll road.

Gary Graham, the turnpike’s assistant chief engineer for design, said the hillside in that area has hard rock on top and soft material below it. The soft material eroded over the years after a complete reconstruction in the area in the early 1990s, causing the rock above it to fall.

Since the initial incident, there has been some additional slippage, Mr. Graham said, but nothing major.

To remedy the problem, the turnpike has purchased seven homes on Main Street for $1.26 million, said Nathan Thomas, a rightof-way acquisition specialist for the turnpike. All of the properties were purchased through negotiated sales, and none were taken by eminent domain.

In fact, after previously agreeing to take only part of the last two properties, the commission last week approved the homeowners’ request to purchase the entire properties.

John Boyer Jr., the turnpike engineer who’s managing the project, said a contractor already has razed five of the homes and now will remove the last two. The commission will advertise for bids on Aug. 19.

Mr. Graham said designers had considered installing a retaining wall at the site at a cost of several million dollars. But acquiring the property and cutting back the slope should provide a level of safety at a substantially lower cost.

The boundary line for the private properties and the turnpike land was at the crest of the hill.

“Acquiring the property is going to make our construction much, much easier,” Mr. Boyer said. “This is all going to be earth work. We’re essentially going to be sloping back the length of the hill.”

The project should start in the fall, and construction should be finished by the end of the year. Most of the work should be done from Main Street, but there could be occasional traffic disruptions while the contractor moves equipment into place.

Planting vegetation on the hill will take place next spring.