Sharpsburg demolition part of Route 28 improvements

Four Sharpsburg homes were razed by PennDOT as part of a landslide remediation project in conjunction with the Route 28 widening between Millvale and the Highland Park Bridge.

The houses sat along Noble Street which abuts the expressway.

The specific cost of the demolition was not released by PennDOT, but work was part of an $11.5 million Route 28 improvement project.

Of the four homes, three were occupied. The other was condemned.

PennDOT spokesman Steve Cowan said demolition was part of a tort settlement with property owners.

“A landslide has been occurring slowly below Route 28 for over 20 years,” he said. “It has caused damage to the embankment supporting Route 28 as well as the houses.”

PennDOT needed the property to install a proper fix to the slope to stabilize the expressway, Cowan said.

Mayor Matt Rudzki said the project was necessary to improve safety along Route 28, where lanes will be widened and turning lanes added at the bridge interchange.

A $55 million reconstruction project will address bottlenecks along Route 28 at the Highland Park Bridge, where about 57,000 vehicles travel a day.

“I hope the drainage upgrades and slope repairs will reduce flooding from Route 28 into Sharpsburg,” he said.

But, Rudzki and other borough officials are concerned that work sacrificed hundreds of hillside trees that provided a natural sound barrier from the flow of vehicles. Rudzki has been in contact with PennDOT to address the issue.

Cowan said that while sound barriers are part of the Route 28 project, the stretch above Noble Street did not qualify for a sound study.

That answer doesn’t sit well with Councilmember Jon Jaso, who said his biggest concern going forward is to see a sound wall constructed for the entire length of the borough. He is lobbying for a natural barrier made of clay, rocks and greenery, but will take one made of concrete and steel, he said.

“It was brought up, but the experts contend that the noise levels are not bad enough to sustain a sound barrier, but somehow it is bad enough in Aspinwall,” Jaso said.

Plans call for sound barriers to be constructed along Route 28 near Lexington and Western avenues in Aspinwall.

There, residents were asked to vote on the neighborhood view of the wall texture and color. PennDOT will determine the highway side.

“I would think it is worse (in Sharpsburg) because of the exit to the Highland Park Bridge, but what do I know?” Jaso said.