SHARON, PA. Residents petition council in attempt to reopen viaduct

Residents vowed to take their complaint to the county commissioners.
By HAROLD GWIN
VINDICATOR SHARON BUREAU
SHARON, Pa. -- A group of Prindle Street residents presented city council with a petition signed by 1,300 people wanting the Oakland Avenue Viaduct to be reopened.
Shirley Gagliardi of Prindle Street handed the petition to council President Fred Hoffman during Thursday's meeting, promising to also take it to the Mercer County commissioners' meeting next Thursday.
The bridge spans the Shenango Valley Freeway in Sharon, but it is owned by the county. It was to be replaced in a $3.6 million project in 2001. The old bridge was demolished and the new one put in place, but the county stopped the contractor from finishing the job when it was determined the bridge had a misalignment.
Efforts to work out an acceptable solution to correct that misalignment have been unsuccessful, and the bridge remains closed.
"That's a vital part of our community," said Walter Hanek of Prindle Street, explaining that he worries about the delays faced by safety forces getting to his neighborhood when they must detour around the viaduct.
"All we want to find out is why this is taking so long," said Dominic Gagliardi of Prindle Street.
Who wasn't there
Hoffman said council has that same question and invited the county commissioners, the bridge contractor, the county bridge engineer and state and federal legislative officials to Monday's meeting.
None of the invitees showed up.
The county had planned to send a contingent but backed away after the contractor, Carmen Paliotta Contracting Inc. of Library, Pa., made public a letter blaming the county for the bridge delay.
The county has maintained that the misalignment is the contractor's fault.
Hoffman said county officials, fearing the matter will end in a lawsuit, were advised by their solicitor not to attend the council meeting.
He said he also received correspondence from CPCI, saying the county's solicitor had contacted CPCI and advised it not to attend either.
CPCI had said it was willing to participate, provided that the county had no objection.
Hoffman said the bridge doesn't belong to the city, but the mayor and council are taking the heat for its not being finished.
The contractor has warned that, if a corrective action plan isn't approved by the end of September, the bridge won't be finished this year either.
"We're tired of the way it is. We want it done," Hoffman said, adding that a real concern is schoolchildren crossing the structure to get to school on the north side of the freeway.
Mayor David O. Ryan said the contractor did send a crew Thursday to repair the fence to keep people from walking onto the unfinished bridge, but Hoffman said the fence won't deter kids from trying to cross it.
gwin@vindy.com