Irwin: $800,000 needed for major road repairs for housing authority project

Irwin officials were told this week it could cost about $800,000 — money the borough does not have — to repair a section of a road connecting the site of a proposed senior citizen housing project with Route 30.

Gibson-Thomas Engineering of Latrobe, the borough’s engineer, prepared the estimate for repairing a 150-foot section of Caruthers Lane. The road was stabilized about four years ago near the Norwin Public Library, said Shari Martino, borough manager.

“It is a slip, not a landslide,” Martino told council Tuesday in explaining the problem with the borough-owned roadway.

There is no danger of the road sliding away, Martino said.

Irwin could spend an estimated $800,000 to remove the asphalt and slag fill beneath the section that has slipped and rebuild the base with the proper size stone, said Steve Schmitt, a Gibson-Thomas engineer. The road would be widened and the embankment stabilized with metal plates, Schmitt said.

It is possible that the work could be done while one lane of traffic remains open, he noted.

The borough has not been able to find funding for the project. In order to pay for the work, the borough would have to acquire multiple grants, Martino said.

The prospects for acquiring funding, however, are “slim,” Martino said.

A less expensive option would be replacing the stone base and repaving the road, Schmitt said, which is estimated to cost between $10,000 and $20,000.

Martino said she would seek quotes from excavating companies that may be able to do some of the work.

The temporary fix would not solve the underlying problem that may have been created by the use of slag for the road base, Martino said.

A major repair could not be done before this fall. That is when the Westmoreland County Housing Authority plans to begin construction of Grand View Senior Residences, a 50-unit four-story apartment building in a wooded site off Laurel Avenue in North Huntingdon.

The housing authority has received approval from Irwin for the site plan and from North Huntingdon for a 1,300-foot road that would connect the apartment building to Laurel Avenue in North Huntingdon.

The project would result in construction vehicles with heavy loads traveling on the lane.

The construction contractor must obtain a bond to pay for repairing any damages to Caruthers Lane, Martino said.

A group of North Huntingdon residents living near the proposed apartment complex had questioned the project and the condition of Caruthers Lane and possible damage from heavy construction vehicles.

An alternate route would have vehicles travel from Barnes Lake Road onto Caruthers Lane.