Repaving Scheduled for Sewickley Oakmont Road

Contractors will begin milling and resurfacing work on a one-mile stretch of Sewickley Oakmont Road in Ross Township on June 4, weather permitting. 

Crews will also be upgrading the drainage along the heavily traveled road between Perry Highway and Rochester Road. The work will be performed between 8:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. weekdays through June 22, according to Penndot. 

The project is included in a $3.6 million dollar contract with A. Folino Construction of Oakmont, PA, for improvements on several roadways in Allegheny County. 

The repaving project is not welcome news to Shirley Adams, who told the Ross Township Board of Commissioners Monday night that she fears drivers will use her neighborhood’s streets as cut-throughs to Route 19 and Interstate 279. 

“Why bother paving the road, until the turning lanes at the top of the hill are widened,” she questioned. 

It’s not the first time Adams has complained to the commissioners about the increased traffic in her neighborhood.  

The signs are not enforceable, said  Chief Robert Bellan.

“There is a decent volume of traffic in that neighborhood, but what does the township consider high? When we consider other shortcuts in other neighborhoods, it’s in line with that,” he said. 

Commissioner Lana Mazur agrees with Adams that the real solution is to add turning lanes at the intersection of Sewickley Oakmont Road and Perry Highway.

“This has been an ongoing concern for 10 years,” she said. “There are several intersections which need to be fixed, but Ross Township doesn’t have the money, and it’s not our road.” 

Sewickley Oakmont Road and Perry Highway are state maintained roads.

“To widen the intersection, we would need to build a retaining wall adjacent to the Willi’s Ski shop parking lot,” said Frank Cippel, Assistant Traffic Engineer for Penndot District 11. “We have the money to repave the road, but not for widening project, which is considerably more expensive.” 

Cippel also questions Adam’s contention that her neighborhood is plagued by heavy traffic. 

“On April 24, I sat on Route 19 at Washington Boulevard from 4:00 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. to see if this was a major cut-through,” Cippel said. “I didn’t see a major problem that day, I only saw one car at the most, when the traffic signal changed.”

Township Manager Wayne Jones sympathizes with Adam’s concern and is aware of several other congested intersections, which are causing similar problems. But if the state agrees to fix any of them, Ross will be expected to help with the funding.

“We have a lot of traffic concerns at a lot of intersections, I have long list of them,” he said. “The bottom line, is the money available? Our budgets are set. If the board of commissioners decides to spend it on one of these intersections, they will have to take it from somewhere else.”

Like North Hills Patch on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.

Stay connected by subscribing to the North Hills Patch Email Newsletter.