Route 28

==Insights==
*Public hearing set on Route 28 plans P-G, September, 2006. A document about the latest plans to rebuild Route 28 between the North Side and Millvale has been available for the past month, but few knew about it.
:A legal notice in yesterday's Post-Gazette announced where the environmental-assessment document covering the two-mile stretch can be examined. It also said a public hearing will be held Oct. 12, 2006.
PennDOT District 11 spokesman Jim Struzzi was preoccupied by the massive landslide that has closed Route 65 in Kilbuck.
PennDOT District 11 Executive Dan Cessna said the oversight was not intentional. "Hopefully, folks will still have adequate time to review the information and make plans to testify if they want to," he said.
Interested parties have two weeks from today to look at a copy and prepare for the public hearing. It will be held from 3 to 6 p.m. at the Teamsters Local 249 Temple at 4701 Butler St., Lawrenceville.
==Background==
The two miles of Route 28, also known as East Ohio Street, are often referred to as the "death stretch" because so many accidents have occurred there.
The new document presents preliminary designs for each construction alternative and the results of environmental, traffic and engineering studies.
The report focuses on a compromise of some early proposals, or "Alternative 7."
Alternative 7 widens the roadway by shifting it toward Norfolk Southern Railway tracks; preserves St. Nicholas Church, the first Croatian Roman Catholic Church in the U.S.; keeps Rialto Street at its present location; and is said to "minimize impacts" to historic and archaeological resources.
Grade-separated interchanges would be built at the 31st Street and 40th Street bridges to provide for slower, albeit free-flowing traffic at the city end of Route 28.
The last cost estimate for the Alternative 7 was $120 million to $130 million, down from a $180 million to $190 million range in earlier proposals.
"We have moved forward with that alternative, with very minor modifications," Mr. Cessna said. "We seemed to have reached a consensus with the interested parties."
The environmental assessment is available for review at the Millvale Borough Building, the Lawrenceville Branch of Carnegie Library; City Planning Department; County Department of Public Works; and Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh's main facility at 4400 Forbes Ave., Oakland.
(Joe Grata can be reached at jgrata@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1985.)
==Links==
* Fix 28 Now
===Media===
* http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/07054/764461-100.stm Rock slide in Feb 2007
* Cleanup Continues Along Route 28 - WPXI News 
At Least 5 Vehicles Damaged By Debris February 26, 2007 HARMAR TOWNSHIP -- Four days after that rockslide on Route 28, the cleanup continues. On Thursday night, a big boulder came crashing down between the Harmar and RIDC Park exits.
===Blogs===
* http://barnestormin.blogspot.com/2006/10/public-input-on-route-28-project-saved.html
category:roads