Reis Run Road Still Covered 2 Weeks After Landslide, Construction To Begin
UPDATE (Oct. 9)
Equipment to repair the landslide on Reis Run Road will show up Thursday.
Construction begins next week after PennDOT received approval to begin work on private property.
They expect the project to be done next month.
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) - Torrential spring rains that caused flooding and some landslides throughout the region may have stopped, but the damage that was caused is still ongoing.
Especially for those in several Ross neighborhoods as well as a heavily traveled road through Ross Township.
On Reis Run Road in Ross Township where two weeks ago a landslide occurred, here fourteen days later, residents are frustrated that nothing has changed.
"It feels like we have kind of been forgotten," said Ross resident Jennifer Nurmi who lives a half mile from the slide.
"As you can see we can't get around either side of the road. It takes us about fifteen minutes to do the detour, " Nurmi said.
"How are ambulances, paramedics and firemen going to get to us if necessary," a concerned Nurmi told KDKA News.
Time and safety concerns on heavily traveled Reis Run where motorists can be seen turning around despite closure signs and cones.
Reis Run Road remains closed as it has for two weeks, in both directions between Rochester and Arndt Roads.
"And if this progresses anymore, then I'll probably have to evacuate the house," said homeowner Jim Capes whose house is on the property where the slide began.
At the top of the massive slide, the worst fears of the homeowner have been realized.
The cavernous sink hole and slide that started on his property has cracked and moved closer to his home in two weeks.
Jim Capes and his family had to leave. His home now sits abandoned posted with signs by Ross Township that say it's deemed unsafe.
"Bad, it's bad," said Reis Run Road resident Maria Weir who lives directly across from the slide.
"PennDOT they don't say nothing," Weir expressed to KDKA News.
And there lies the additional complication for Ross residents trying to navigate the mess.
While Reis Run is prone to landslides, this one slid from private property onto a state road.
"And Penndot is in total control of this project I feel helpless," said Ross Township Commissioner Jim Laslavic.
"So far we haven't gotten a timetable from Penndot and that's the frustrating part," Laslavic said.
Penndot says geotechnical engineers are monitoring the hillside which is continuing to move so there will be no response, cleanup or barriers put in place for motorists, just dirt and detours.
So bottom line until this hillside stops moving completely, this road will remain closed indefinitely.
