Brownsville Council to focus on street repairs
BROWNSVILLE — Danny Turosik said he tried to be understanding when he had to spend $600 one year to replace his vehicle tires.
Because Second and Water Streets are dilapidated, he said, he has spent a tremendous amount of money for tires and a front-end alignment.
Now, he said his vehicle requires additional work.
“I need another front-end alignment and two more tires,” he said during the borough council meeting last week. “I don’t think I should take it out of my pocket.”
Following his complaints, council was adamant that more needed to be done. At one point, the borough had a list of identified roads in dire need of repair, according to Councilman John Hosler. Taxpayers should not have to pay because road conditions are poor, he added.
Years ago, the state governor and representatives indicated they would take responsibility for repaving the truck route in the borough, once the expressway bridge was completed. The route includes the entire length of Water Street, 18th Street, the bottom of Angle Street, down to Second Street, and ending at High Street. Nothing has been done yet, according to Hosler.
“I think the state who promised it should pay for it,” Hosler said.
Funding has been limited for the borough to address street repairs, according to council. Only $25,000 was allocated in the budget for road repairs during one fiscal year, according to Councilman James Lawver. With the poor condition of the roads, he said it will be difficult to attract people to move to the borough.
“That won’t pave a street,” he said. “We can not keep neglecting the roads.”
In order to address the ongoing issues with roads, Councilwoman Tracy Sheehan Zivkovich reiterated that there needs to be a better system in place to analyze the data. The state Department of Transportation (PennDOT) Local Technical Assistance Program (LTAP) should be utilized in the borough, she said. Contact information for LTAP will be provided to Councilman Tom Bush.
“We need the data,” she said. “We need to make these decisions on an ongoing basis and prioritize what is the worst road and what’s it going to cost, and then get that done. But we need the information.”
Keeping the streets clean was another concern, as borough resident Robert Hughes explained the borough should establish a more frequent schedule for the street sweeper. Coming from a small town in Washington County, where the street sweeper is used on a bi-weekly basis, he said he doesn’t understand why the borough doesn’t have the same schedule in place. Church and Fourth streets are sore spots, he said. Dog feces and used condoms have been found on Fourth Street, he said.
Lawver explained the borough uses the sweeper when it rains because it keeps the dust to a minimum.