Laurels & lances: Good sports & bad road

laurel: To being in the spotlight. Hey, not sure if you heard, but there’s big sports things happening in Allegheny County.

No, it’s not baseball. It’s not hockey, although there are rumors of Mario Lemieux and Ron Burkle looking to take back majority control of the Penguins. It’s not football — OK, maybe there’s a little football as Aaron Rodgers has finally ended the eternal wait and signed with the Steelers.

But no. All eyes in golf have turned to Oakmont Country Club for its record 10th time hosting the U.S. Open.

The tournament officially kicked off Thursday, but the club has been thick with players getting a feel for the greens and spectators getting a glimpse of the best in the game.

Reports say logistics for the event, including shuttle buses bringing people in from parking lots 10 miles away, are going smoothly. Maybe Pittsburgh and Allegheny officials prepping for the 2026 NFL Draft could take a page from the the United States Golf Association’s playbook on how to throw a multiday athletic affair.

Lance: To the worst overpass. Sure, there’s no definitive ranking to say that the place where North Greengate Road in Hempfield passes under the Norfolk Southern mainline tracks is the worst, but let’s do the math.

First, it’s a low 10-foot, 1-inch clearance. Add to that the steep angle the road comes down to the underpass from the north. Then the road goes under the tracks at a weird pivoting angle, which makes drivers rely on blind faith they won’t hit opposing traffic at times.

To top it off, the frequent drip — sometimes gush — of water from the tracks above erodes the asphalt on Greengate Road like sand on a beach. It leaves deep jagged potholes that can appear overnight like mushrooms in the worst spots. They leave drivers with a hopeless choice: hit the pothole and damage your car or drive around and risk hitting another vehicle.

PennDOT is working on preliminary engineering to improve the situation, but the only thing that takes longer than construction on a government road project is the layers of preparation leading up. Jeremy Hughes, assistant district executive for design with PennDOT District 12, said he would not expect anyone to break out shovels for a few years. Sounds about right.

All in all, it’s a nasty little intersection of bad road quirks. The only good thing is that unlike some other awful patches of potholes — we’re looking at you, Pittsburgh Mills mall — this is a spot that gets frequent attention. The potholes are always being topped off with fresh asphalt. It just can’t stay ahead of the traffic and water.