Upper Burrell plans to move forward with slide repairs on Lower Drennen Road.
Supervisors authorized the township’s engineer, Michael Moore of Bankson Engineers, to prepare bid documents for repairing two slides along the road.
“We’re going to get that fixed, finally,” said supervisors Chairman Ross G. Walker III.
According to Walker, the road is in poor condition. Officials have said the small landslides are caused by clay under the topsoil that makes the areas, particularly along the road, vulnerable. The slides have occurred at different times over the years and get worse during heavy rain.
While not heavily traveled, the township keeps Lower Drennen open for emergency services to residents and motorists.
“The road slides away,” Walker said. “It’s one lane. It’s a dangerous situation.”
Moore expects the bids being opened and awarded in the next few months.
He anticipates the Lower Drennen project to be covered completely by grant funding. The township previously received $184,000 in federal grant funds for the project and roughly $51,000 in state grant money.
“The estimates come in at around that amount but, obviously, we won’t know until the bids come back,” Moore said.
Supervisors also directed Moore to prepare and advertise for bids for drainage improvements on Turkey Ridge Road.
“The water is the issue,” Walker said. “They’re trying to remove the water from the roads into the gutter.”
Moore said the township was awarded a $20,000 grant from Westmoreland County for that project.
“We think we may have to contribute a little bit to that project,” he said. “We have an estimate of about $25,000.”
Walker anticipates the projects to be complete by mid-summer or early fall.
