Thursday, May 3, 2012

It has only taken a dozen deaths and 80 years for officials to get off there ass and fix a deadly roadway

Ever since the 1930's when  Washington Boulevard  also known as Pa. Route 8 was built in the city of Pittsburgh's
East Liberty section it has been a deadly trap any time there is a very strong rain storm of an inch or more of rain . The road built over an existing creek  and which was at one time even feed by a Lake called Silver Lake has had a history of suddenly and violently filling up whats known as the fish bowl part of the road near the city Fire Academy where it dips as much as 12 feet and it has killed over a dozen people 5 last year and at times in 30's, 50's and in the early 60's I almost became a victim  as a young child when my mom was driving home from the market to our apartment on Paulsen street in East Liberty and a sudden storm came up trapping us temporarily till my mom could get here car free we where lucky that day because an elderly driver drowned that same day who could not escape the fast moving waters . Pittsburgh has several areas like this where water accumulates very fast when rains are heavy but none like Washington Blvd. Even in the 30's it was proposed that automatic barriers be  installed  and operate  when rain accumulates or elevating the road etc but known of it was ever done. They did increase the size of the pipes under the road but that did not help either. It showed just how ineffective it was when 5 people died last year a mother her 3 children and an elderly woman when a fast and furious storm came thru on a summer day. Well as you can see they now have warning signs and automatic gates installed I just hope they have battery back up because this area loses its power all the time. While this helps it is not the solution they need to elevate the road up out of the flood plain in the low spot area.
I guess we will see if this latest limited attempt by officials actually makes a difference.
Oh you can forget about filing suit against any of the the state and city are only liable up to $500,000 per incident so there is no incentive  to actually give a damn. Every administration since the 1930's has had blood on there hands for not doing anything about this but do they care? Not at all.

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