The Rocket

Issue date: 4/27/07 Section: News

As temperatures continue to rise and flowers come into season, so do the potholes and road construction signs in Slippery Rock.

The spring season brings out the birds and the smiling faces, but it also brings out the frustration drivers feel when hitting yet another pothole on Kiester Road.

In recent months, the Slippery Rock Borough and Slippery Rock Township have begun the process of putting in new water and sewerage lines throughout the area.

Since the beginning of the spring semester, Slippery Rock's roads have been torn apart at the seams. The development of the new Ivy Apartments has brought about a need for more water and sewerage lines.

Slippery Rock is separated into the township and the borough, with each municipality being in charge of different areas of the town.

The line separating the borough and township is located at the blinker light in front the entrance to the university. The township has everything east of the light extending out to state Route 108 and the borough has everything to the west.

"The lines were getting bad, so we elected to replace them," said Paul Dickey, the Slippery Rock Borough's water and sewage supervisor.

The new water and sewerage lines that were put in along Franklin Street began to become somewhat of a bother to local residents due in part to the holes and small stones that were being left behind.

"It is becoming a real driving hazard," said Mike Baniszewski, a junior physical education major. "When it is wet outside the stones make the road even more slick."

The borough construction, which cost $360,668, is finished, but the road remains unpaved.

"The paving of Franklin Street is contracted to PennDot, so we have no control over the actual paving," Dickey said.

The township is currently putting in new water lines on Kiester Road as an extension of the project being done by the borough.

"The water lines that we are putting could be of great benefit to the community if they choose to tap into the system," said John Hines, township supervisor.

"They have contacted the water and sewage authority, so it is up to them whether or not to take advantage of the new lines."

A major concern with Kiester Road is the increasing number of potholes that are being created due to heavy traffic and poor weather conditions.

"We are well aware of the problems on Kiester, and as soon as the water lines are completed we will have the road better than it has ever been," Hines said. "All of the problems by the new apartments are on the hands of the contractors."

Continued...

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