East Hills Drive, a pockmarked, trash-strewn corridor between Penn Hills and Pittsburgh, is getting some much-needed attention.
A $250,000 state grant will allow Tamion Enterprises, the nonprofit arm of nearby Petra International Ministries, to repair its dilapidated stretch of the otherwise well-kept road. A fence will be added, too, to combat frequent illegal dumping in the area.
Work is expected to wrap up within the year.
At a news conference Feb. 11, Bishop Donald Clay of Petra International Ministries said efforts to secure funding have been years in the making.
“It wasn’t easy, but they labored so hard and got it done,” Clay said, referring to a bevy of elected officials from both communities.
The sprawling church is located in an outparcel of the former East Hills Shopping Center.
When Petra International Ministries bought the property in 1995, part of East Hills Drive came with it.
The old access road starts in Pittsburgh at Frankstown Road, passes through Penn Hills — where Petra International Ministries is located — and ends in the city’s heavily residential East Hills neighborhood.
Worsening conditions on the road have grown from a mild inconvenience to a genuine hindrance on the church’s operations, according to state Rep. Joe McAndrew, D-Penn Hills, with food donation delivery trucks struggling to navigate the countless potholes.
“If you drove down that road fast, you’d wreck your car,” McAndrew said.
Petra International Ministries did not return a request for additional comment.
Penn Hills’ border communities have received increased community attention as of late.
Elevate Penn Hills, an initiative of the Penn Hills Community Development Corporation, is examining ways to bring single-family housing development to these often neglected neighborhoods. They’re starting with Lincoln Park, a historically Black section of western Penn Hills that borders the city.
McAndrew is confident paving East Hills Drive will spur further Penn Hills-Pittsburgh collaboration on infrastructure needs, leading to more housing and commercial development where the two communities meet.
“I’m hoping this is not the last project on this border,” McAndrew said.
