Jun 23, 2011 3 min read

My mother lives on 176 Oliver Road in North Union Township. In the 1960s, the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation took, under eminent domain, certain properties and portions of properties, including a portion of my mother’s property, and both adjoining properties on Oliver Road for the Uniontown bypass.

I contacted the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation and after researching their records, they told me that after construction of the Uniontown bypass, the rights-of-way on Oliver Road previously taken under the eminent domain, reverted back to North Union Township.

Therefore, the responsibility and maintenance of Oliver Road and the rights-of-way across the properties along Oliver Road, is the responsibility of the North Union Township Supervisors, not the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation.

My mother’s property is situated between two properties. Years ago, the owners of both of those properties were allowed to plant trees and place a fence on the township’s right-of-way. To the right of my mother’s home are enormous pine trees, and on the left are large trees.

My mother and 1 have contacted the township over the years and told them how dangerous it is in trying to back out of her driveway because of the pine trees on one side and trees on the other side. Because of these trees, anyone backing out of the driveway cannot see oncoming traffic.

This is a dangerous situation and the township has failed  to do anything about the trees. A representative of the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation told me that these trees cause a “line-of-sight problem,”  resulting in a dangerous situation. He said it is the township’s duty to cut the trees down, and the township does not need any property owners’ consent because the trees are on the township’s right-of-way.

Also, the speed limit on Oliver Road is 25 miles per hour, which no one obeys.

Approximately six months ago I again talked to one of the supervisors, who told me that one of the adjacent owners was in Florida and he would talk to them when they got back in the area, and then get back in touch with me. Having heard nothing, I again contacted them recentlyl, and because no one was available, left word for someone to call me back. I received no return call and the trees, which are now in full bloom are still standing.

The township should never have allowed the trees to be planted in the first place and now, because of favoritism, the township refuses to cut down the trees, and continues to allow a dangerous situation to exist, even though we have complained to them numerous times over the years.

Fred Markovich

Uniontown