Part of Crescent Avenue in Sewickley closed due to landslide

A portion of Crescent Avenue in Sewickley is closed after a landslide caused slope stabilization concerns.

Borough engineer Mike Galet said no homes were impacted by the slide, which occurred on April 4.

A $500,000 retaining wall the borough built within the past two years was also not affected.

The wall was part of the first phase of a two-phase repair project of the dead-end road near Ellis Hill.

The first work also included slope stabilization to the upper part of the road.

The second part included stabilizing the slope on the lower end of the street and repaving the entire street.

Public works closed off part of the avenue April 5 and cut down trees that were at risk of falling.

“Phase one held up,” Galet said. “The wall’s in good shape. It could have been a lot worse. Who knows what could have happened.”

A contractor was on site April 6 to evaluate the situation and determine repair pricing.

“We’re going to work through pricing and proceed as an emergency repair,” Galet said. “Essentially, the slide was right after the wall that we installed in Phase One. There’s a little transition slope. The lot that was vacant that had a house on it was recently demolished.

Galet added the lot was in an area that the borough didn’t see as a shirt term risk and was to be included in Phase Two of the project.

“We had applied for multiple grants and haven’t gotten any (for Phase Two). That’s why it’s not done yet.”

The engineer said the emergency repair will be taken out of Phase Two plans, and that work will have to be redesigned.

It was unclear how much the emergency repairs would cost.

Borough Solicitor Nate Boring said on April 8 he would draft a resolution for council to vote on next month to address the repairs.