Ortitay hopes state funds can be used to remedy ‘Georgetown Scalper’
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State Rep. Jason Ortiay hopes state funds can be used to help redesign a low-clearance railroad underpass in Cecil Township that has caused many truck drivers to get stuck.
Ortitay said the funds would come through a grant from the commonwealth’s Rail Freight Assistance Program, known in shorthand as RTAP. It’s up to the Pittsburgh and Ohio Central Railroad, which operates the line, to apply for grant money, Ortitay said, but the Cecil Republican said he would be glad to “go to bat” for them.
“”It’s a major issue,” Ortitay said. “A huge traffic issue.”
The underpass, located in the 500 block of Georgetown Road before it becomes Valley Brook Road, has acquired the nickname the “Georgetown Scalper” thanks to the frequency of trucks getting stuck or damaged when they try to pass under it, which has a clearance of 11 feet. Despite signs warning truck drivers that they won’t be able to fit under it, travelers in box trucks and 18-wheelers have continued to drive through the underpass, often with unfortunate and costly results.
The mishaps have been so frequent that a private Facebook group has been established to track the accidents. Ortitay said that many of the drivers who get stuck are driving moving vans or other rented vehicles, and might not be thinking about clearance issues.
“It might take a year or two to get the money,” Ortitay said, so a redesign to the underpass is not imminent. He also explained that any redesign should address drainage issues at the underpass, which tends to flood during downpours.
Last week, a piece of concrete that had been loosened by the frequent strikes to the underpass was removed by crews from the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT), the railroad and Cecil Township. The piece of concrete was “very sizable,” according to Ted Wolford, chief of the Cecil Township Fire Department, and was making drivers nervous that it would fall.
Ortitay said he is not sure how old the underpass is. It’s part of a 35-mile rail line that snakes from McKees Rocks to Neville Island and, then south to Chartiers Township. That portion of Georgetown Road is popular, since it connects Route 19 and Interstate 79, but Ortitay argues that truck drivers would be better off taking alternate routes like East McMurray and Boyce roads.
“It will take a little longer,” he said. “But it will be cheaper in the long run.”