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Woman launches campaign to have trestle removed

By Angie Santello 6 min read

GEORGES TWP. – Karen Bertovich says the railroad trestle near her home is a hazard to traffic that travels on Ruble Mill Road, and could possibly lead to someone’s death in the near future. Shortly after school is back in session, officials with the state Department of Transportation (PennDOT) are scheduled to reopen the road after a bridge on at the Smithfield/Georges Township border is replaced.

Bertovich says when the road reopens, the “S” curve, which originally slowed traffic nearing the trestle, will be gone. In its place will be a straight shot toward the trestle.

The straight shot, said Bertovich, will give motorists the freedom to travel at a high rate of speed, unaware of the looming danger that they may strike head-on with another vehicle.

Bertovich said from the Smithfield side of the stone trestle, entering traffic is blind to oncoming motorists, and someone’s life is bound to be taken.

She watched children at her home for 27 years, and between the children and their parents, many who travel the route to go home, 32 chances exist that someone she knows could die.

“What’s the chance that it’s not going to be someone I know that will die on this road? Everybody’s life is valuable, but I know for a fact that it’s going to be someone I know,” she said. “I don’t want to wait and then say, ‘We should have done something.'”

Bertovich was concerned with the trestle before, but said with the bridge project, her worries have escalated. Her mission is more motivated. She said she knows traffic will be speeding underneath the structure.

The solution, reasoned Bertovich, is to tear down the trestle, and what better time to do that, she asked, than when a $1.5 million construction project is under way.

PennDOT’s answer

But, according to the state Department of Transportation (PennDOT) District 12, the trestle is outside of the bridge project’s effective limits.

“The trestle is too far away from the bridge that is being replaced to be considered as part of the bridge replacement project,” Bill Beaumariage, PennDOT project manager, said.

PennDOT has realigned the road to improve the alignment under the trestle and to provide more sight distance than currently exist, he noted.

PennDOT is also investigating the need to post advisory signs on both approaches to the trestle to improve the horizontal clearance and alignment that currently exists under the trestle, Beaumariage said.

But, Beaumariage said, “to achieve current standard roadway alignment and clearances, the trestle would need to be removed or replaced.”

County reponse

Art Cappella, chief community development specialist with the Fayette County Office of Planning, Zoning and Community Development, said according to a draft feasibility study done by Mackin Engineering in 1999, the Rails to Trails project is scheduled to run over the rail line that runs across the trestle and over Ruble Mill Road.

He is unsure what the impact of tearing down the trestle would be in that area since an engineer hasn’t been hired to design the southern section of the trail toward Smithfield, Springhill Township and Point Marion.

The county is designing the northern section of the 33.6 mile-long trail toward Dunbar and Uniontown, Cappella said, and is looking forward to the groundbreaking of that section in the future.

Beaumariage said PennDOT would back Fayette County and look into the alternatives to ensure the passing of the Sheepskin Trail if the structure were torn down.

“When a trail is built, it is built with enhancement funds,” said Beaumariage. “PennDOT is the steward of those funds and helps the county build the trail system.”

PennDOT said they do not have a cost estimate for trestle removal.

History of the rail

According to PennDOT, railroad structures were removed to the west of the trestle by CSX railroad when the company abandoned the railroad to the west in 2000.

The trestle in question was not removed because Fay-Penn Economic Development Council owns the trestle and their railroad is not abandoned.

Fay-Penn is a nonprofit organization based in Uniontown incorporated in 1991 with the mission to maintain and increase jobs in Fayette County.

Mike Krajovic, president and CEO of Fay-Penn, said the organization would be more than happy to cooperate if granted assurance of a couple of conditions.

He said the organization does not want to jeopardize the Rails to Trails initiative.

In addition, he said, Fay-Penn helped to keep the near 100-year-old rail system in Fayette County for current and future industry use.

“We would question if that (trestle) warrants needing torn down. Signage may be a better option,” Krajovic said.

“If it were deemed appropriate and in the public interest, we would be more than willing to cooperate,” he added.

Fay-Penn’s involvement would be limited.

According to PennDOT, any order to remove the structure would need to come from the Public Utility Commission (PUC), which governs the structure.

A PUC spokesperson said Friday the commission extended the order to abandon 18 points on the railroad on April 1, and the trestle could be one of those points.

Uphill battle

Bertovich’s goal of having the trestle torn down has been an uphill battle for the last year and a half. She began the pursuit in May 2004.

Since then, phone calls and letters have been written and exchanged among the people and groups tied to Bertovich’s push to have the trestle removed.

Coming to the newspaper for publicity was a last resort, she said, noting she hasn’t had success with other agencies involved.

“We’re impacted with this project,” said Bertovich. “I don’t want it to come to someone getting killed.”

Bertovich said she’s determined to do whatever it takes to reach her desired result.

“My intent is to get this trestle torn down before a fatality occurs and I will go as far as I have to go,” she said Friday.

She is exploring attending a public hearing on the matter before the Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission (SPC) for the chance to have the project identified on the Transportation Improvement Program’s (TIP) list of recommended projects.

The SPC, which is responsible for planning and prioritizing the use of all state and federal transportation funds allocated to a 10-county region including Fayette, meets every two years to hear public testimony and votes on the improvement projects in the years between.

The next public hearing for Fayette County is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. Aug. 17, in Swimmer Hall at Penn State Fayette, The Eberly Campus.

Residents wanting to provide input into the future of county transportation are welcome to submit comments, whether at the hearing or online.

For more information, visit the commission’s Web site at www.spc9.org.

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