Landslide Closes Street, Blocks CSX Tracks

Rivers continue rising; Monongahela now at ‘major flood’ stage in Braddock

By Jason Togyer
The Tube City Almanac
April 03, 2024
Posted in: McKeesport and Region News

Crews work to clear a landslide that blocked CSX Railroad tracks and closed Arlington Avenue in the upper 10th Ward. (Tube City Almanac photo)

A landslide triggered by torrential rains closed a street in the city’s upper 10th Ward and temporarily blocked the CSX Railroad’s mainline through McKeesport.

Meanwhile, rising flood waters on Wednesday evening forced the closure of Water Street between Kane Regional Center and the Palisades Ballroom.

The landslide below the 600 block of Arlington Street was reported at around 12 noon on Wednesday, emergency officials said. River Road between 10th Ward and Port Vue is currently closed due to slide repair work and flooding under the Jerome Avenue Bridge.

Water Street and the lower end of Ninth Avenue in McKeesport — including the entrance to Kane Regional Center — were closed due to flooding on Wednesday evening. (Tube City Almanac)

A storm system that moved through Western Pennsylvania on Monday and Tuesday dropped more than 3 inches of rain on parts of the Mon-Yough area. Portions of Westmoreland and Fayette counties and northern Allegheny County reported up to 5 inches of rain.

McKeesport Mayor Michael Cherepko said the downpours caused flooding unlike any he had seen as a lifelong city resident.

“It seems like we get these 100-year rains every other year these days,” Cherepko said. “I’ve seen flooding in areas of the city where we haven’t ever seen flooding before.”

The 15th Avenue Bridge between McKeesport and Port Vue was covered with debris following storms Tuesday night and Wednesday morning. Cherepko said the debris likely was washed off of the hillside above the bridge.

Flooding also forced the closure of the ramp to East Fifth Avenue from the McKeesport-Duquesne Bridge on Tuesday night.

“Our public-works crews spent most of the night out, and I’m not sure they’re back in yet,” Cherepko said Wednesday evening. “We’re handling it as quickly and as efficiently as we can.”

Forecasters had expected river levels to peak Wednesday afternoon and then begin receding, but they kept adjusting their predictions throughout the day. As of 11 p.m. Wednesday, the Monongahela River had not yet crested at the Elizabeth Lock & Dam and was three feet above flood stage.

At Braddock, the river was almost to 24 feet, which is two feet above flood stage. Any level above 24 feet is considered a major flood. The normal river level at Braddock is 12 feet.

The last time river levels topped 23 feet in Braddock was Nov. 20, 2003, according to National Weather Service data, which was the eighth-highest level ever recorded at Braddock Lock & Dam.

The all-time high was 35 feet, recorded during the devastating St. Patrick’s Day floods of 1936.

Navigation through the locks and dams is currently suspended, officials said.

See real-time river data from the National Weather Service

According to the National Weather Service, if the Monongahela continues to rise, backwater flooding will worsen along the Youghiogheny River in McKeesport, causing sewer backups along Market Street and 12th and 13th avenues, as well as at the Isbir Manor housing complex.

Residents of Elizabeth Twp., North Huntingdon Twp., West Newton and Sutersville reported the Youghiogheny River was overflowing its banks in many areas. The river was at four feet above flood stage in Sutersville on Wednesday night, the NWS said.

The weather service has extended a flood warning for the McKeesport area through 8 a.m. Thursday. Additional rain is expected to pass through Thursday, dropping up to a quarter-inch of precipitation, before colder temperatures change the rain to snow.

At Point State Park in Pittsburgh, the rivers swamped the famous fountain at the mouth of the Ohio, and the 10th Street Bypass and the “bathtub” section of the Parkway East were shut down, along with the Mon Parking Wharf.

Meanwhile, in McKeesport, crews were working Wednesday night to clear the mudslide below the 600 block of Arlington Street that temporarily blocked the busy CSX railroad tracks, which carry freight as well as Amtrak’s Capitol Limited passenger train between Chicago and Washington, D.C.

Messages left for CSX Railroad by Tube City Almanac were not immediately returned. Trains appeared to be moving through the area slowly on Wednesday night.

(Tube City Almanac photo)

The 600 block of Arlington is closed indefinitely and officials, including the city’s contracted engineers, were on scene Wednesday. The one-way street, which overlooks the Youghiogheny River, is already narrow and barely accommodates two cars.

Cherepko said the hillside’s collapse has left a sheer cliff on one side and city officials are concerned that if the ground continues to shift, the street could cave in.

There are three occupied homes in the 600 block of Arlington, the mayor said. Residents have been asked to use Pickwick Alley, which runs behind those houses, to access their homes temporarily.

Cherepko said the city will likely seek outside geotechnical help to evaluate the safety of the street.

If the closure of Arlington Street is prolonged, the mayor said, the city will work with residents to try to mitigate the inconvenience.

“There are a couple of houses on that block being torn down,” Cherepko said. “If we have to tear them down and create more parking for the residents, we’re going to do what we can to make sure that our homeowners have good access.”

Other area roads remained closed Wednesday night due to flooding, including Route 837, which was closed between Clairton and West Mifflin, and also between Dravosburg and Duquesne.

West Mifflin emergency personnel were warning motorists not to attempt to drive around the barriers and ford the flooded roadway.

Originally published April 03, 2024.

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