Union Railroad has completed long-awaited repairs to its half of a dilapidated fence along Leechburg Road near its North Bessemer Yard, but it remains unclear when the rest might be addressed.
The rusted, sagging fence has been described as potentially dangerous to pedestrians by Penn Hills code enforcement officer Jason Griffiths. It’s a section of road without a sidewalk that nonetheless sees some foot traffic because of its proximity to Community Supermarket and other nearby stores.
Code enforcement has cited JLR Properties and CSI Construction for failing to remediate the situation.
Richard Marchese, vice president and chief operating officer for CSI Construction, said his group is selling its half-acre in North Bessemer to nonprofit Hilltop Rising and has no plans to fix the fence before then.
“The buyer will take everything,” he said. “It’s an ‘as is’ sale.”
John Robinson, owner of JLR Properties, said he’s waiting for contractor bids to come in to replace the fence. Griffiths also has given him the option to tear down the fence, though Robinson would rather have some kind of barrier in place. To Robinson’s credit, unlike some individuals or companies hit with code violations, “he has not ignored me when I call him,” Griffiths said.
State Rep. Joe McAndrew took some responsibility for getting the railroad to spend about $50,000 on the fence, which sits on the western boundary of the rail yard.
“The work on Leechburg Road has been a long time coming and a much-needed investment by Union Railroad into their property on that road,” McAndrew said. “I hope we continue moving forward in making investments into this stretch.”
In December, PennDOT awarded Union Railroad $2.1 million to replace about 15,000 ties at its classification yard in Duquesne and the North Bessemer Yard. The fence repairs came out of the railroad’s own pockets, a company spokesperson previously told TribLive.
