Whitehall officials advised motorists to avoid several streets in the borough from 9:30 a.m. until early afternoon because of a Duquesne Light Company project to replace a power transformer at its Elwyn power station located off Earlsdale Drive.

The company has contracted Edwards Moving and Rigging, Inc. of Shelbyville, Ky., to transport the huge piece of equipment and will use a special 96-wheeled flatbed trailer.

The vehicle, expected to move at a maximum speed of 3 mph, was to travel from a Delwar Road railroad line in West Mifflin and follow a route involving Streets Run, Brownsville, Baptist, Hamilton and McRoberts roads to arrive at Earlsdale Drive.

"Don't drive there tomorrow," borough Manager Jim Leventry said at council's meeting last night.

Several council members criticized the route chosen by the power company that had been approved by PennDOT and raised concerns about possible damage to borough streets.

Since the power company intends to replace two more transformers there later, police Chief Don Dolfi said the borough will monitor this project to determine if a different route should be used.

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