Grant will help Latrobe rehab Ligonier Street underpass; 2 others need work

Grant funding will allow Latrobe to renovate just one of three railroad underpasses that need attention.

Council on Monday awarded close to $112,000 worth of contracts for rehabilitating the underpass that carries Ligonier Street beneath the Norfolk Southern Railway.

City manager Mike Gray said the structure on Ligonier Street — the town’s main north-south thoroughfare — will require the least concrete work of the three underpasses and will match most closely the $100,000 cost approved through PennDOT’s Multimodal Transportation Fund.

“We’re able to get one complete underpass done,” Gray said. “It was really looking at the specifications, on what we can afford.

“Ligonier Street was the least involved. It kept some of the cost down, to keep us closer to what our grant allotment was.”

He said the city, in a future funding round, will reapply for a multimodal grant to help upgrade additional underpasses on Jefferson and Alexandria streets, which each allow two-way traffic under the railway.

The grant for the Ligonier Street improvement will provide $70,000, with the city drawing upon its capital projects fund for a $30,000 local match and more than $11,000 in additional money needed for the work.

The city agreed to pay 446 Painting LLC $84,980 for repainting portions of the underpass. Curry & Kepple will receive $21,596 for concrete repairs, and Schultheis Electric will be paid $5,200 to improve lighting.

The project will upgrade the cracked sidewalk and install handicapped-accessible curb ramps in the underpass. The overhead lighting will be replaced with more efficient LED versions in pendant-style fixtures that hearken back to the early 20th century.

According to Executive Director Jarod Trunzo, the Latrobe Community Revitalization Program assisted with design of the project, including a painting scheme that uses shades of maroon, gold and green associated with the Pennsylvania Railroad, which built the underpasses in 1901.

Gray expressed hope that the underpass work can begin soon. “We want to take advantage of the weather as long as we can,” he said. “We’re real excited to have it done.”