Alliance to address concerns about access to state prison
A Fayette County Transportation Alliance subcommittee will look to address concerns about inadequate access to the state prison being built in Luzerne Township. At an alliance meeting Thursday, Mark Krysevig, deputy superintendent of the State Correctional Institution-Fayette, raised concerns about employee travel, supply deliveries, safety of area residents and inmate visitations.
Tammy Shell, alliance chairperson and executive director of the Fayette County Planning, Zoning and Community Development office, said she would set up the subcommittee after Krysevig detailed some of the transportation issues that will face the prison when it opens in August.
Although the prison won’t be fully operational with a complete staff and a capacity of slightly more than 2,000 inmates by December, Krysevig said existing access roads are dangerous, and “The Frederick” ferryboat’s operating schedule is too inconsistent now.
Officials have designated a reconstructed state Route 4020 as the main access road to the prison, according to Alan Bailey of the state Department of Transportation.
But, Alicia Road (Route 4022), which runs along the Monongahela River and is accessible by driving through Brownsville, provides a shorter drive to Route 40, and the prison’s 700 employees and contractual staff probably would use it, Krysevig said. It starts out as Alicia Road outside of Brownsville and eventually turns into LaBelle Road as it nears the prison.
Brownsville Mayor Norma Ryan said something should be done to avoid traffic congestion in Brownsville by the time the prison opens in August.
“We need to do something now,” she said.
Donna Holdorf of the National Road Heritage Corridor suggested that PennDOT shift its maintenance efforts and budge from Route 4020 to Alicia/LaBelle Road.
Bailey said some work, like guardrail replacement, could be done through existing programs, but he would have to do some research to find out why Route 4020, and not Alicia/LaBelle Road, was programmed for reconstruction to serve the prison. He said he would have to determine why Route 4020 was selected before he could shift resources to Alicia/LaBelle Road, but he will look into it.
Krysevig said delivery trucks can be required to use Route 4020, but employees are free to select their own way home after their shifts end, and they probably will use the more direct Alicia/LaBelle Road.
“That road (Alicia/LaBelle Road), in its present condition, presents a danger,” Krysevig said.
He said the rural site is well suited for a prison, but it will take state police in Belle Vernon 45 minutes to respond from the barracks, and better roads could reduce their response time. Guards would handle most incidents that erupt in the prison, but good access is needed for police, ambulances and fire trucks, Krysevig said.
In addition to employee travel, each of the 2,000 inmates is entitled to five visits per month, creating the potential for 10,000 vehicles to negotiate through Brownsville to Alicia/LaBelle Road, he said. The road’s rough edges and narrow shoulders cause many motorists to drive down the center of the road. Krysevig said he saw a school bus driving along the center of that road Wednesday morning.
Freight deliveries will include materials for a factory in which inmates will make license plates and metal furniture. Krysevig said the license plate factory will be moved from SCI-Pittsburgh to the new prison.
The ferry provides the most direct access from the Washington County side of the Monongahela River and will see a substantial increase in business when the prison opens, he said.
With the planned closing of SCI-Waynesburg, displaced employees from Greene County will use the ferry to get to the prison, he said.
It takes 15 minutes to drive from SCI Waynesburg to SCI Fayette using the ferry, but 32 minutes without it, he said, noting that a one-way trip across the river takes about four minutes and the boat carries up to six or eight cars per trip.
“When the ferry runs, it’s very effective,” Krysevig said.
However, the ferry doesn’t seem to operate on a regular schedule and no notification is given when it is closed, Krysevig said, adding that some of the closures are probably due to river or weather conditions.
He suggested posting open or closed notices at the Mon/Fayette Expressway interchange in California and other locations to alert employees, who must report to work on time.
If an employee finds out the ferry is closed when he or she arrives at the dock, they will be forced into a half-hour detour, Krysevig said.
Most employees will work shifts from 6 a.m. to 2 p.m., 2 to 10 p.m. and 10 p.m. to 6 a.m., while the administrative staff will work from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Krysevig said if the ferry ran from 5 a.m. to 11 p.m. daily – including weekends, when it does not currently operate – it would accommodate the three primary shifts.
Luzerne Township Supervisor Ron DeSalvo said the old ferry is one of the few remaining cable-driven ferries in the United States. When it breaks down, it can take as long as six or seven weeks to find replacement parts, he said.
DeSalvo said a new ferry might be needed.
Krysevig said if ferry passes were sold, they would generate money needed to maintain it.
Fayette County Commissioner Vince Vicites said Fayette and Washington split the cost to operate the ferry, using state Liquid Fuels funds.
He said notification when the ferry is closed is a good idea, and he would like to hire more employees to run it more often, but the problem is finding operators who have the required license from the U.S. Coast Guard.
Vicites said most licensed operators work in the private sector for higher pay than the county can afford.
Jim Marzullo of the Fayette Expressway Completion Organization suggested a way to improve prison access and expedite the new Monongahela River Bridge, which is part of the proposed Uniontown-to-Brownsville section of the expressway.
He said a road could be built from the expressway to Alicia/LaBelle Road, and the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission is doing the preliminary engineering for the road.
Marzullo said that road would provide access to the prison, alleviate congestion in Brownsville and could cause the commission to fast track the bridge. The road, he said, would provide access to industrial sites along the river and benefit Centerville, on the Washington County side of the new bridge.
He also said the commission would receive income from tolls from the bridge.
Joe Agnello of the turnpike commission said the road was an interesting idea and is worth exploring. He said it could expedite the commitment of money to build the 15-mile Uniontown-to-Brownsville section.
He said $85 million is in place “to take us to the verge of construction,” but funds for the total construction cost of $445 million have not yet been secured. The bridge alone will cost $40 to $50 million, Agnello estimated.
Dan Glitz, a turnpike commission consultant, said it would take two or three years to build the bridge, and he estimated that work could start in 2006.
The alliance will meet again April 10 at 1 p.m.