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Business Owners Worried About Impact Of Long-Term Route 30 Closure

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EAST PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- Residents and business owners are wondering why it took a landslide on Route 30 for PennDOT to finally make repairs.

Several drivers say the stretch of highway where the landslide occurred has been sinking for the past year.

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"Every time I drive on it, it seemed a little bit deeper. I think to myself, 'How long are they going to wait before they do anything? Are they going to wait until it collapses?' Which they did," driver Joe Paris said.

They stopped driving on the highway saying it was becoming too dangerous.

Section Of Route 30 Collapses In East Pittsburgh
(Photo Credit: Steel City Drones)

The clean-up from the landslide is underway and PennDOT is developing a plan to make repairs, but the highway will be closed for months.

"There was a wall that was at the bottom that was doing a very good job holding up that slope. There was no signs of any type of failure on the slope itself," PennDOT District 11 Executive Cheryl Moon-Sirianni said. "Even though the road might've dropped in the middle, that did not make us believe that was a slide. We thought that was more of a drainage issue. It was a very odd situation."

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Business owners in the Turtle Creek Valley are worried about traffic jams and how business will be affected.

"They'll be very hard set to come here because they're going to be crazy from traffic," business owner Shelly Farren said.

Others are more optimistic.

"Pittsburghers know their way around Pittsburgh, and they're going to find their way through the backstreets or what have you," business owner Jim Holland said. "They're going to find their way. If they need to get here, they're going to get here."

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