Uniontown bridge replacement project may impact businesses in 2015
Owners of businesses located on either side of a small bridge that carries Pittsburgh Street over Coal Lick Run in Uniontown had questions about the replacement project that could keep the route closed for five months in 2015.
The project will be put out for bids in March 2014, at which time a contractor will be selected. The contractor, in turn, will retain an engineering firm to do the final design work on the bridge, subject to the approval of the state Department of Transportation (PennDOT), according to PennDOT project manager Bill Oshnack.
Tim Grindle, owner of Grindle Station, raised concerns that because his property actually has entrances on either side of the construction zone, motorists will cut through his property instead of using the posted detours, and his parking lot isn’t designed for that kind of traffic, Grindle said.
“With that closed, it will become a thoroughfare for sure. There is a high flow of traffic going into the city, and they aren’t going to go all the way around,” Grindle said.
The posted detour for traffic coming south on Route 51 into Uniontown will be the Route 119 bypass to Route 40.
“The way I see it, with the bridge out, people will be turning from (Route) 51, and the shortest distance between A and B will be me,” Grindle said.
Oshnack said a sign will be posted indicating that it is a private driveway and not to be used as a thoroughfare. Mike Wedl of K2 Engineering Inc., the city’s engineering firm, said other steps could be taken to make going through the parking lot less attractive to motorists without blocking it off to business patrons, such as creating a maze with concrete barriers.
Dave Fullmer of Mallery-Fullmer Co., located at Pittsburgh and Mitchell streets south of the bridge, was concerned about truck traffic getting to his business but was assured a truck route would be posted. Fullmer said that while the June-October closure may be inconvenient, the project is needed. The project will include removal and replacement of the current bridge and abutments. The new bridge will be 34 feet long and 38 feet wide and will include three traffic lanes and a sidewalk.
The conceptual design and detour plan has been prepared by Mackin Engineering for PennDOT. The designs were put on view at Uniontown City Hall on Tuesday.