Belle Vernon officials frustrated over continued closure of Route 906
Mark Soroka
Route 906 from Belle Vernon to Fayette City has been closed since January due to falling rocks and debris.
Mark Soroka
Debris partially blocks a portion of Route 906. The state road, between Belle Vernon and Fayette City, has been closed since January after movement on the hillside caused rocks and dirt to fall onto the road.
Mark Soroka
A portion of Route 906 from Belle Vernon to Fayette City has been closed since January. Local officials said they are frustrated and want answers from the state Department of Transportation.
Officials in Belle Vernon are getting impatient with the prolonged closure of a section of Route 906 stretching from Belle Vernon to Fayette City.
The state Department of Transportation closed part of the heavily used state road on Jan. 2, after movement on the hillside caused rocks and debris to fall onto the road. It has remained that way since, as PennDOT鈥檚 engineers look for a way to resolve the problem.
The nearly year-long closure isn鈥檛 sitting well with several borough council members.
Councilman Frank Monack the continued closure affects public safety. Since Route 906 has been closed, motorists have been detoured to Route 201 and Interstate 70.
鈥淚f there is a fire in Fayette City, our firefighters have to take a detour to get there,鈥� he said. 鈥淭hat adds another five to 10 minutes to their drive, and that can be a real problem when you鈥檙e trying to respond to an emergency.鈥�
Council members recently instructed borough solicitor Bobbi Jo Wagner to draft a letter of inquiry to PennDOT.
鈥淲e are getting tired of waiting for an answer,鈥� said Councilman Rich Saxberg. 鈥淣othing is being done to fix this problem. Route 906 is a major throughway in and out of Belle Vernon. That road is crucial if we want to bring in more economic development to Belle Vernon. We want PennDOT to tell us why that road is not open.鈥�
Valerie Petersen, who serves as community relations coordinator for PennDOT District 12, said the agency is concerned about the stability of the ground in the area.
鈥淲e are reevaluating how to mitigate the entire hillside above and below Route 906 adjacent to the Monongahela River,鈥� she said. 鈥淥ur department has an active design project for that area. The additional failures of the slope have caused us to reevaluate corrective actions along this stretch of roadway.鈥�
Saxberg said PennDOT is planning to meet with borough officials in February to discuss the road closure.
鈥淧ennDOT said they will meet with us but only if the meeting is private,鈥� he said. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 not acceptable. The public should be allowed to hear what is going on. The bottom line is that road has to be reopened as soon as possible.鈥�