Mar 17, 2016 3 min read

The delayed reopening of an often-used South Strabane Township road has some residents fed up.

“This is crazy,” said Joanne Henson, who lives in the Windsor Highlands development off Route 136. “Everybody is getting so frustrated.”

A section of Cameron Road near the intersection of Route 136 (East Beau Street), closed Dec. 1 for slide repairs, including construction of a retaining wall to hold the roadway in place and about 200 feet of road resurfacing.

The road connects Route 136 with Route 19, and Trinity East Elementary School is also located along it.

Work was originally scheduled to conclude at the beginning of the year, then was pushed back twice because of problems with soil at the site.

According to township manager John Stickle, repairs are tentatively expected to be completed by the end of March.

The project was delayed because of unforeseen problems at the site and poor weather, said Stickle.

The retaining wall was moved about 30 feet because of unsuitable soil in the original location.

That soil had to be removed and appropriate soil trucked in, increasing the time frame and cost of the project, from $219,155 to $315,545.

Backfilling of the wall will soon be complete, then the road sub-base will be repaired and the road repaved.

Stickle said he expects another cost increase from the contractor, Redstone Excavating of Brownsville, before work is complete.

“We want the road to reopen. The contractor wants to get done. They’re doing the best they can under the circumstances,” Stickle said. “I’m sorry for the inconvenience, but in order to repair the road correctly, they have to do what they are doing.”

Henson said she and a group of fellow Windsor Highlands residents have been monitoring progress, and she’s not convinced work is being done as quickly as it could.

“They lied that they’re working there all of the time. We’ve been checking; we report in every day. (Workers) were here on the 8th (of March) and we haven’t seen them since,” Henson said. “I went down Wednesday. Only one worker was there pushing dirt around at (the) bottom of (the) wall. … This road did not need to be closed December, January or February.”

Henson disagreed with the claim that poor weather has further delayed progress. She said there have been plenty of days with no rain and higher temperatures when no workers were on site.

There was no answer at a phone number listed for the business.

Stickle said he has received phone calls from motorists who are frustrated by the delays, but he asked that people be patient.

“I use the road personally, and we do have to take the detour,” he said. “It is an inconvenience but I think once they’re done, the road will be structurally sound and good for years to come.”