PennDOT Continues To Monitor Large Landslide On Route 51 As Weekend Rain Is Expected
MOON TOWNSHIP, Pa. (KDKA) - The Route 51 landslide in Moon Township is active and the closure may last longer than first thought.
During all this rain, PennDOT is keeping an eye on a hillside in Moon Township after a landslide shut down Route 51.
The busy stretch, also known as McGovern Boulevard, is closed at the intersection of Flaugherty Run Road, between Purdy Road and Stoops Ferry Road after large chunks of sandstone separated and crashed down on the hillside.
#BREAKING: Crews say hillside is still very unstable after a landslide this morning on Rt 51 in Moon Twp. Right now, crews are trying to remove power lines and trees before rest of hill comes down. RT 51 closed near Stoops Ferry. @KDKA pic.twitter.com/ESSJvlArQC
— Ian Smith (@ismithKDKA) January 2, 2020
District 11 Executive Cheryl Moon-Sirianni, P.E. says, "There's still rocks coming down the slope. We're still concerned about the material that is still moving. It appears that the crevice, the opening where the rock came from originally, is widening a little bit which means there still rock coming down the hill."
Moon-Sirianni says the rain is not helping, and with nighttime freezing and daytime thawing, the threat remains high.
"At this point there is a potential that we may try to remove the rock mass which will obviously extend the detour but will make the road a lot safer and make us more comfortable when we do reopen it," she says.
Reopening the road can't come soon enough for the 14,000 detoured drivers or for the Citgo Gas station just outside the closed off area.
Richard Libby says the station is normally very busy every day: "Like two or three hundred people would come through."
But since the slide and the closing of the road, Libby says there's only one word for business: "Dead! You know, maybe one customer."
Moon-Sirianni says there is no way to predict when things will get back to normal.
"We won't really know until the rain stops and the rock stops moving. It could be a couple weeks before the rock stops moving before we can even determine what we have to do," she says.
So with no idea when the slide will stop moving or how long the repairs might take, Route 51 will stay closed until its safe.
Stay with KDKA for the latest on this developing story.
