Inclement Weather Delaying Spring, Summer Road Construction Projects

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PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- Some are official, others are not, but that doesn't change the impact of detoured drivers cutting through quiet, residential streets.

Mel Huerbin lives on Amity Road in Ross Township.

"There's traffic all the time, especially at rush hour, you can't get out. You just have to wait," said Huerbin.

KDKA's John Shumway Reports:

Thompson Run Road, in Ross, has been closed for six weeks. The official detour sends traffic to the already-busy McKnight Road, but the locals cut through Amity.

Nancy Kelly says, "A woman who was walking her dog almost got hit. A man was putting his garbage out and people yell stuff at you." She says, to make matters worse, up on Thompson Run "they're not working! Is there anyone up there?"

Allegheny County Public Works Director Steve Shanley says there is good reason the site is quiet. The issue is buried utilities that are in the way.

"We're waiting for the utility to get in; and hopefully, we can get that cleared up this week and we can get our contractor on the job site," said Shanley.

The issue for PennDOT is more rain related with major paving jobs delayed twice on Forbes Avenue in Oakland and Route 19 in Marshall Township.

PennDOT District 11 Executive Cheryl Moon-Sirianni says, "I'm hoping that we have a string of nice days in a row here and we get some long-term stretches of paving done."

The extended winter and rainy spring have created projects the road crews could not have anticipated.

PennDOT's Moon-Sirianni says the engineers at District 11 will sit down next week "to discuss our 75 active landslides and to address which we need to address sooner and which ones we can hold off on."

Meanwhile, the scramble is on for money to pay for all this. Shanley says its not cheap.

The slide on Thompson Run "will be about $500,000 to remediate this issue."

And Allegheny County has 10 of them to deal with.

PennDOT will try its repaving efforts again this coming weekend. However, stay tuned, it's supposed to rain.