Bridge replacement between Union, Peters townships not-so-good news for business owner
The state Department of Transportation recommends this detour route, along state roads.
Work is in progress on the eventual replacement of the bridge near Finleyville connecting Venetia and Rankintown roads.
Peter’s Creek Inn is next to the bridge on the Union Township side.
Bob Tenner, the owner of Peter’s Creek Pub doesn’t really know what to expect the state Department of Transportation closes the nearby Finleyville bridge on Venetia Road for 39 days beginning July 7.
“We’ll see if I make it or not,” said Tenner, the owner the a bar and restaurant on Rankintown Road in Union Township, a stone’s throw from the Peters line.
“We are just going to have to see how we make out,” said Tenner, who has owned Peter’s Creek Pub for 14 years.
PennDOT will close the one-lane bridge that spans Peters Creek to replace it with a two-lane bridge. The closure will impact traffic traveling between Peters and Union townships, into and out of nearby Finleyville.
And what makes it significant to Tenner is that more than half of his customer base comes from Peters and uses Venetia Road.
Tenner said his business has declined 50 percent since April, when PennDOT began work on the $3.1 million project. In addition to replacing the bridge, PennDOT is relocating a sanitary sewer line and replacing a box culvert by Churchill Road, and also doing work on drainage and inlets.
Further work include widening and repaving. The nearby railroad tracks will be raised, with signals and lights will be upgraded.
Cindy Dunleavy, a PennDOT project supervisor, said local residents will have access to their homes, but most motorists will be detoured around the project.
“The detour is quite extensive and is all on state roads,” she said.
Indeed.
Starting at the bridge and heading west into Peters, motorists are advised to follow Venetia Road to Bebout Road, and then to East McMurray into Allegheny County, where East McMurray becomes McMurray Road. Drivers can turn onto Clifton Road, proceed to Library Road (Route 88) to re-enter Washington County into Union Township. In Finleyville, motorists make a right onto Washington Avenue, which becomes Rankintown Road.
The reverse commute starts at the bridge and proceeds east toward Sheridan Avenue, then to Library Road and north to Clifton Road, west to McMurray Road. Motorists will re-enter Washington County on East McMurray Road and proceed south and west on Bebout Road to Venetia Road.
Tenner said plans call for Peters Creek Pub will remain open seven days a week, but he did not rule out reducing hours if the bridge project continues to negatively impact his business.
“I tried getting a settlement with PennDOT,” Tenner said. “I just wish they had been a little more fair.”