Crime & Safety

Bad Intersection Will Be 'Roughed Up'

More than 60 crashes have been reported at Vanadium and Montgomery in the past year.

A troublesome intersection that has been the site of dozens of crashes in the past year will be fixed soon.

The sharp turn under the train tunnel at Vanadium Road and Montgomery Avenue near the will be “roughed up” to prevent more car accidents,.

More than 60 crashes have happened there in the past year, Secreet said, because of what he thinks was slick asphalt laid down in late 2009 by the Allegheny County public works department.

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“I think it’s the roadway. Something with the material of the roadway,” Secreet said. “It doesn’t have to be icy. Just when the roads are a little wet, it can cause slippery conditions.”

Secreet said there were no more than 10 crashes at that intersection in 20 years before the paving. But his department has reported at least 60 car accidents in the past year, and he puts the total figure in the 80s since the road was repaved in late 2009.

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Bernie Rossman, who is deputy director of Allegheny County public works, said they plan to do milling in the area over the next few weeks to make it more skid resistant. Original plans to tar and chip the intersection might have to be put on hold because of the cooler weather.

“I think it’s a combination of a lot of things,” Rossman said of the number of accidents. “We did some speed studies and we show that there is some speeding in the curb. We also recognize that there is a high abrasion on that curb and it might have added a polish. With weather, you’ve got something conducive to accidents.”

But Secreet said Scott Township commissioned its own speed study and found that most people were driving slower than 20 miles per hour in the turn.

“They’re coming down and sliding straight into people … like it was ice,” Secreet said. “There was nothing they could do.”

Unless changes are made, he expects more accidents over the next month as temperatures cool and more rain begins to fall.

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