Springdale Township to start paving project

Springdale Township plans to repave several township streets this week in a project that Commissioners President Anthony Rozzano said is long overdue.

“The roads are deplorable. It’s sad,” said Rozzano. “(The township has) been saving money for the past four years to invest in the roads … where it’s needed the most.”

On Tuesday, weather permitting, High Street will be the first to be repaved. On Wednesday, at the other end of town, Stanley Avenue will be repaved. On Thursday, Carson Street will be repaved from Butler Road to Linden Street.

Work on Carson is scheduled to be finished Friday, after which the entrance to Williams Street will be repaved. Road work is scheduled to take place from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. and the streets will be closed during those hours.

Rozzano said the work is being done with township workers, cutting down costs so more streets can be improved. The work is expected to cost about $60,000.

“By doing the paving in-house, we’re able to do four streets right now. If I was to contract it out, we’d be lucky if we could pave two streets,” Rozzano said, noting there are nearly 50 roads in the township.

Rozzano said he hopes the township can schedule more improvements this summer.

That’s not the only township improvement project Springdale officials are looking at completing by the end of the summer. Plans include building a salt shed by the pumping station on Carson Street that is big enough to store 350 tons. In the past, Springdale has depended on Cheswick to supply salt to the township.

“This past year Cheswick charged us $118 a ton and we had to load it ourselves with our own equipment,” Rozzano said. “By us having our own shed, we’re saving $38 a ton.”