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Allegheny County to use gambling funds to repair landslides
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Crescent and East Pittsburgh each will receive $200,000 from a state tax on casinos to help repair landslide damage to roads in their communities.
The Allegheny County Redevelopment Authority today approved those grants and nine others totaling almost $2 million. The money will come from the Community Infrastructure & Tourism Fund.
The $200,000 for repairing McCutcheon Way in Crescent also opens the way for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to repair a nearby lock on the Ohio River.
McCutcheon Way has been closed since rain washed out a portion of the road in May 2011. The road closure forced the Corps to cancel a $3.1 million contract to repair its Dashields Lock, because construction equipment could no longer get through on McCutcheon Way.
The idea to fund the project through a county infrastructure fund financed by state gaming money came up in June when Allegheny County Executive Rich Fitzgerald met with township officials.
The project is expected to cost about $275,000, with Crescent already having paid for engineering studies.
Bill Cook, president of Crescent's board of supervisors, estimated that the road project will be completed as early as March. Reopening McCutcheon Road also would restore access to a township park.
The other road project provides $200,000 for East Pittsburgh to make repairs to Linden Avenue. That road, which is a bus route and links police and fire departments to the rest of the community, has remained open despite the landslide damage.
First Published November 9, 2012 3:27 pm
