Staff writer
It looks like drivers will have to continue coping with gas-line replacement woes on West Chestnut Street in Washington for the remainder of the month, a Columbia Gas spokesman said Thursday.
Jolts and bounces have been part of a wild ride on this segment of Route 40 for the past few weeks.
Most of the bumps Thursday afternoon were evident near the spot where a crew was working in a trench by the train trestle in the 1200 block. And that's when traffic is flowing.
"We hope to have this completed before Christmas," said Jim Cannon, community infrastructure coordinator for the gas company. "That obviously depends on a lot of factors. The weather is one.
"We're having issues with PennDOT that we're looking to resolve here very shortly. Hopefully, we can complete the paving, as well. The restoration may take a little bit longer."
Cannon declined to elaborate on the issues, and he said Thursday afternoon that a date to meet with representatives of the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation in the next two weeks had not been firmed up.
"I think it's more of a communication issue with Columbia and PennDOT. We're going to have a sit-down and hash it all out and try to get on the same page," he said. "That's all I want to say on that."
Valerie Petersen, spokeswoman for PennDOT District 12, could not be reached late Thursday afternoon for comment.
The pipeline project on Jefferson Avenue is largely finished. Columbia Gas announced in October 2007 that it plans to spend $1.2 billion over the next 20 years to replace aging pipelines in its 27-county service area across the state.
"We do have pipeline in our system that is over 100 years old," Cannon said. "In the right circumstances it will last. A good percentage of the pipe in Western Pennsylvania was put in place over 100 years ago."
Cast iron also can shift or rust, so the replacement pipeline is state-of-the-art polyethylene.
"It's a testament to the quality of pipe they had in Western Pennsylvania, because it's held up very well," Cannon said. "It's astounding to think there's infrastructure that old, and it's still operating."