O'Hara officials seek state funding for sidewalk project in RIDC Park

A pedestrian safety project to install new sidewalks from Alpha to Gamma drives in O’Hara may not be possible without state assistance, according to township officials.

Council last month unanimously approved the application for a $909,500 Multimodal Transportation Fund grant through the Commonwealth Financing Authority. It requires a $390,200 township match.

Estimated total cost of the project is about $1.3 million to install about 27,500-square-feet of sidewalk from the intersection of Alpha Drive and Freeport Road to Alpha and Gamma drives.

The project also includes ADA-compliant curb cut ramps, pedestrian lighting fixtures, removal and resetting of signage as well as grading and lawn restoration.

“The only way I think this is going to happen is if we acquire some grant money,” said township Engineer Chuck Steinert. “It would be to improve the walkability of the RIDC Park. It’s a safety and walkability issue to get the pedestrians off the roadways. The sidewalks would be used by everybody not just the RIDC businesses.

“There’s been requests from the business owners in RIDC for many years (to have sidewalks).”

Steinert said there was a discussion about six years with RIDC property owners about having sidewalks throughout the park, which would be nearly 10 times the size of the current project proposal.

Estimated cost at the time was a little more than $2.5 million.

Steinert said those talks included having the businesses contribute some funds toward the sidewalks, but no action was taken.

The borough match for the grant would have to be provided in next year’s budget. Deadline to submit the state grant application was the end of July.

The responsibility of maintaining sidewalks, such as removing snow and repairing concrete cracks, would be on the property owners, the engineer said.

“The RIDC Park is an important asset for the township and the surrounding communities,” council President Robert Smith said via email. “The new sidewalk that we are hoping to construct would be primarily for safety and convenience purposes. Many of the workers in the RIDC ride the bus to work and currently have to walk on the road part way to get to their place of work. The RIDC Association has been asking to Township to help them solve this dangerous problem and we hope to do so.”

Steinert said the project would go out for bid sometime next year with construction expected to take between 120 to 180 days, weather permitting.

Attempts to reach RIDC Park officials were unsuccessful.