LAWRENCE COUNTY Roadway project angers residents

Neighbors wonder why an alternative route isn't being taken.
By LAURE CIOFFI
VINDICATOR NEW CASTLE BUREAU
NEW CASTLE, Pa. -- Tears were streaming down Nancy Scarnati's face as she watched the large machinery knock down the trees.
"Right now, seeing this is unbelievable. This is like the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor," she said.
Scarnati and about 20 neighbors gathered at the dead end of Warren Avenue on New Castle's east side around 3 p.m. Friday to watch as a path was cut along an abandoned railroad line that border's their homes on the city limits, but is in Shenango Township.
Homes are only a few feet from stakes put in the ground by workers.
Project
The trees were being cleared for a roadway that has been in the works since June 1999 by Robert Bruce, owner of Bruce & amp; Merilee's Electric Company. Neighbors have been fighting the road since it was proposed.
Bruce would not comment Friday on the tree clearing.
The property was once part of the B & amp;O Railroad Line but has been abandoned for at least 20 years, and neighbors said they never thought anything would be done with the land.
One neighbor said he tried to buy the land adjacent to his house, but was told he had to buy the entire rail line.
Bruce bought the land in the late 1990s and has proposed a road stretching about a half-mile from New Butler Road to Bruce's existing industrial park in Shenango Township, where his corporate offices are located.
The proposed road would give better access to property Bruce owns behind his corporate offices. Currently, there is a one-lane road from Pa. Route 65 that leads to a 200,000-square-foot building and the vacant land to be developed for the industrial park.
Harming neighborhood
But city residents say Bruce's plans to install a road a few feet from their homes will harm their neighborhood. The road would abut Rose Avenue Extension, Doris and Gale streets and Warren and Barkett avenues.
"We all bought our property because of the tranquility. Now they are destroying our property," said Jim Viggiano of Doris Street. "They have alternate routes to go. Why don't they take them?"
Two years ago, former Lawrence County Commissioner Roger DeCarbo said there was another path the road could take, but it would mean building a bridge over some wetlands, and the total cost would be about $1.4 million. The original road is expected to cost only about $500,000.
DeCarbo said he has a commitment from state officials to supply the extra $900,000, either through a loan to the county or a grant to Shenango Township, and had asked Bruce to consider putting his money into the other route.
DeCarbo said the other route follows another abandoned railroad line near Willowbrook Road in Shenango Township and would open up about 30 more acres of land, not owned by Bruce, for development.
The status of that funding and land was not available from county officials Friday afternoon.
New Castle city council has thrown its support behind the neighbors. Council passed a resolution Thursday night opposing the road.