TM(Advertisement)
Tube City Community Media Inc. is seeking freelance writers to help cover city council, news and feature stories in McKeesport, Duquesne, White Oak and the neighboring communities. High school and college students seeking work experience are encouraged to apply; we are willing to work with students who need credit toward class assignments. Please send cover letter, resume, two writing samples and the name of a reference (an employer, supervisor, teacher, etc. -- not a relative) to tubecitytiger@gmail.com.
Ads start at $1 per day, minimum seven days.
Reader’s Viewpoint: Resident Sees Red Over Bunola Road Closure
By Submitted Report
The Tube City Almanac
January 23, 2020
Posted in: Letters to the Editor
(Editor’s note: This letter was originally published with “name withheld upon request.” Patty has now asked us to use her name.)
Patty Smith of Elizabeth Twp. took issue with “PennDOT: Drivers Ignoring Signal on Bunola River Road,” a brief published Jan. 22:
I saw red when I saw that article. That is only a mere fraction of the story! PennDOT only gave you one side.
The reason drivers are ignoring the signals is because the signals blink red a lot of the time at both ends — and you cannot see the light at the other end.
People have no way of knowing if cars are going up or down the hill. They have to take their lives into their own hands and attempt to travel the stretch of road and pray they do not meet anyone coming in the opposite direction.
Bunola is where I grew up. After talking to several relatives, I am told that repeated calls to PennDOT, local representatives and the Forward Twp. police get no results.
Repeated calls only get the answer that they may have to close the road. Really?! And they have no timetable to fix it?!
I the blame the deplorable roads in the township on the large trucks that are associated with the gas pipeline. Those rural roads were not built for that kind of heavy traffic.
Where are the gas companies now? They should be called to task to fix the roads they have decimated.
One additional thought: What if there is a fire or someone needs an ambulance? Bunola no longer has their own fire company. Can you imagine the added travel time using the detour?
It would add at least 15 minutes to any emergency vehicle getting to Bunola!
—Patty Smith, Elizabeth Twp.
Tube City Community Media is committed to printing viewpoints from residents of the McKeesport area and surrounding municipalities. Commentaries are accepted at the discretion of the editor and may be edited for content or length.
To submit a commentary for consideration, please write to P.O. Box 94, McKeesport 15134, or email tubecitytiger -at - gmail -dot- com. Include contact information and your real name. A pen name may be substituted with approval of the editor.
Originally published January 23, 2020.
In other news:
"PennDOT: Drivers Igno…" || "Police Seek Missing C…"