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City Seeks Funds for Closed Versailles Ave. Span
By Jason Togyer
The Tube City Almanac
July 12, 2022
Posted in: McKeesport and Region News
The Versailles Avenue Viaduct, part of which is shown here, was closed in February after an inspection determined it had become unsafe for motorists and pedestrians. (Tube City Almanac file photo)
McKeesport is seeking state funds to help replace the closed Versailles Avenue Viaduct.
Council this month authorized city officials to apply for $3 million from the state Department of Community & Economic Development for a multi-modal transportation grant.
McKeesport officials also are seeking funds to replace or repair Ramp 1 and Ramp 2, the bridges that cross the CSX Railroad tracks and connect lower 10th Ward to West Fifth Avenue, said Tom Maglicco, McKeesport city administrator.
Citing an inspection report that showed the bridge had become dangerous, McKeesport closed the Versailles Avenue Viaduct in February. The bridge, built in the early 1970s, is almost 300 feet long and spans Ravine Street between Point Street and Wisp Alley.
About 4,000 vehicles used the bridge daily, according to state Department of Transportation statistics.
Replacing the bridge has been estimated to cost $8 million to $10 million or more, Maglicco said.
McKeesport officials also have vowed to seek federal assistance in replacing the bridge, which is city-owned.
Besides requiring a lengthy detour for motorists headed to Carnegie Library of McKeesport, Two Rivers Intermediate School, McKeesport Little Theater and their homes in the neighborhood, the excess traffic is straining local streets.
Latisha Rice, who lives on Union Avenue, told city council this month that cars are speeding down her street as they avoid the Versailles Avenue detour.
Rice said she and her husband have had two of their cars totally destroyed in accidents while they were legally parked in front of her home.
“I don’t want to replace any more vehicles,” she said. “Right before the COVID (lockdown) you did come up and put signs up that said ‘Slow Down for Children,’ but it didn’t help.”
Three weeks ago, there was another accident at the corner of Manor and Union avenues — caused, Rice said, by a speeding motorist.
She asked whether speed bumps or stop signs could be placed on Union Avenue.
McKeesport Mayor Mike Cherepko said that the city is reluctant to install speed bumps because they can damage vehicles — for which the municipality may be held liable — and that stop signs may only be used at dangerous intersections, not as traffic calming devices.
However, Cherepko said, city police and city Solicitor J. Jason Elash will be taking a look at conditions on Union Avenue to determine what changes, if any, can be made.
When it comes to speeding traffic, he told Rice, “your street is one of the worst because of the detour around the viaduct.”
Jason Togyer is editor of The Tube City Almanac and volunteer executive director of Tube City Community Media Inc.
Originally published July 12, 2022.
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