SF considering road closures
Township administrators in South Fayette are recommending closing portions of two roads: Pinch Road and Coal Pit Run Road for safety concerns.
Ryan Eggleston made the recommendations at a Sept. 11 board of commissioners meeting. He said the staff would like to close a portion of Pinch Road for the winter months. Pinch Road is located off Tom’s Run Road near Dutch Hill Road. Eggleston’s recommending that the road be closed from Nov. 1 to April 1 on an annual basis.
“That section is quite treacherous,” Eggleston said, adding that road crews have a hard time navigating it during the winter months. “It’s a safety issue,” he said.
Eggleston is also recommending the permanent closure of a section of Coal Pit Run Road near the Washington County line where it intersects with Bowman Road.
“The road needs significant repairs,” Eggleston said. At one point, there were dwellings on the section of road, but currently no one lives there. Eggleston said there are some occupied dwellings along the Cecil Township portion of the road, but they would still have access to their properties from other roads. Eggleston said he will reach out to Cecil Township regarding the potential closure.
“It’s in bad shape,” Eggleston said.
Eggleston urged residents who have questions, concerns or feedback on either potential road closure to contact the township.
“This is just to kind of start that dialogue,” Eggleston said.
Paving plans for next year were also discussed at the meeting.
“There are plenty of roads that need attention,” Eggleston said. He said the township is looking into doing a system-wide analysis of roads to rank them from worst to best condition.
“There’s a need to really look at it holistically so we’re not just putting bandages on it.” Eggleston said of the township’s paving needs. “It’s a pretty large issue,” he added. South Fayette has more than 20 square miles of roads to maintain.
“Going forward we need to look at what funding we have and where we can get funding,” Eggleston said.
In other business, the board discussed establishing a committee to research highway overlay districts in the township for possible use on Washington Pike and other roads of potential high growth.
Township engineer Mike Benton said an overlay district would not change the zoning in any area. He said the overlay district could be used to add additional setbacks in areas of growth in the township.