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Desire to bury utilities leads to delay in Waynesburg streetscape work
WAYNESBURG - Pretty sidewalks won't mean much if the town still has ugly telephone poles and wires hanging overhead, Waynesburg's engineer told council Monday as he explained some of the challenges facing the streetscape project.
Borough officials, along with the nonprofit group Waynesburg Prosperous and Beautiful, have been planning to revamp several blocks in the business district since 2005.
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The project has been delayed because of utility line relocation issues. Dufalla said that burying the lines is the easiest way to eliminate the clutter of overhead lines. However, finding a way to do that has proved problematic.
Because of the federal money that will go into the project, the borough will not be allowed to pay Allegheny Power to perform the necessary electrical work without undergoing a competitive bidding process. Dufalla also anticipates problems with the electric company's union that may preempt the hiring of a contractor with the lowest bid.
"Everybody wants those utilities underground. The question is what mechanism do we use to put those lines underground," he said.
Council on Monday accepted a grant agreement with the state Department of Transportation, but the board made its approval contingent on finding a way to deal with the utility lines. The streetscape project will receive $1,605,000 in federal aid.
Dufalla said he plans to meet with representatives of Allegheny Power, Windstream telephone company and Comcast cable company to see whether a solution can be reached.
Dufalla said underground utility lines should be a fundamental part of the project. If it proves impossible to find a way to bury the lines, he suggested that council pull out of the deal and ask that Waynesburg P&B find a new sponsor for the streetscape project.
Further complicating matters is the change in leadership at Waynesburg P&B. The former head of the organization, Connie Burd, has accepted a position as Main Street manager for the city of Uniontown. No one has been hired to replace her.
The streetscape project aims to make Waynesburg a more attractive place to shop. Plans call for tree-lined streets with decorative stone adorning the edges of sidewalks.
The walks will be expanded at street corners, and a parking space on each corner will be sacrificed as a result. A cluster of trees, a light pole, a handicapped-accessible ramp and a park bench will extend into those former parking places.
The first phase of the project should encompass about three blocks on High Street, from Morgan to Washington streets, and three blocks on Washington Street, from High to Wayne streets.
Waynesburg Streetscape work : 6/10/2008
Does someone of sane mine really think that by adding trees, a park bench, and decorative stones to the edges of the sidewalks will really make Waynesburg 'a more attractive place to shop'? Shop for what? Get real!!
Waynesburg streetscape work : 6/10/2008
I agree~~shop for what?...every other business is a print shop or lawyer...I brought my mom down to waynesburg one day to walk around town...and was VERY disappointed, there is nothing there!!! This county needs to start putting the money into other things...how about things for the KIDS to do?!!!
Waynesburg streetscape : 6/10/2008
I think Waynesburg needs to fix all the roads first so your car doesn't fall apart before you park it
waynesburg Streetscape Work : 6/10/2008
What are we shopping for in Waynesburg? There is nothing here in town, overpriced clothing stores, lawyers and bars on every corner. Not to mention that one couldn't get into any of the "stores" after 5:00 in the evening anyway, Waynesburg's "town" is not meant for the working class people, thank goodness for the stores on the out skirts of town that are open until at least 8:00pm.
Waynesburg Streetscape Work. : 6/10/2008
Waynesburg has been drying up for 20 years now. Nothing is going to change it. There is a very small town here in Greene County with an overly ambitious planning committee who also wants to put utilities underground and then make the poor folks who live on that street pay tap in fee's for someones crazy pipe dream. This grant greed has to end in this county. Everytime I read about another huge chunk of grant money coming in for a beautification project, I think about the hordes of people here who line up for free food. I think of the elementary schools who have 50 year old, patched up books in them, or our 2 Greene County Libraries whose selection of books is so poor that people don't bother to go there anymore.Greene County needs to wake up and smell the rats that are supposed to represent us, and demand the grant greed end.
What a joke! : 6/12/2008
Come on wanna-be-socialites, instead of spending money to get new benches and trees, why not try to get some new business into this dried up old town before it falls off the map! We don't need benches and trees - we need real businesses not just dollar stores and attorney offices. Waynesburg is the dollar store capital of the world. No thanks - I'll shop in Washington and Morgantown.
