A tentative game plan has been presented to repair the brick surface of Allegheny River Boulevard in Oakmont.

Shawn Wingrove, the borough’s engineer, discussed some potential spot repair options along nearly a half-mile stretch of the street.

“We talked about a lot of permutations, a lot of options, a lot of potential avenues over the last 18 or 24 months,” Wingrove said.

Brick roads in the borough have been a common topic of discussion. Borough officials recently made the decision to pave over Archie Street, a longtime brick road, after an emergency repair was needed for a hole that had formed in the street.

Wingrove said discussions have included preserving the brick on Allegheny River Boulevard, from Washington to Pennsylvania avenues.

In the short-term, he said, officials need to decide how to fix the bad spots in areas of the boulevard that are deemed “long-term brick.” Wingrove presented a plan for a spot repair program for this year.

He said the borough carried out a similar plan years ago while repairing brick roads throughout the borough’s neighborhoods. Work on the streets was decided based on their square yardage.

“We bid a contract that set the bar for the base bid at a certain number of square yards,” Wingrove said. “We had a priority list, then we had alternates depending on where the bids came in that we could add up to whatever our budget was.”

The program includes plans for crosswalk improvements, mobilization and traffic control.

It calls for excavating the old brick and the sub-base below, addressing the earth below if needed and building everything back up.

Wingrove said his team identified a tentative priority list of areas along the boulevard including 512 Allegheny River Blvd., the dip at 642 Allegheny River Blvd., and the intersection of Allegheny River Boulevard and Maryland Avenue in front of the clock tower.

The recommendation to fix the dip would be to repair the brick from curb to curb, he said. It’s unclear what causes the brick movement in that spot.

“The dip is far more severe on the Allegheny Avenue side, but we want to fix it all the way across,” Wingrove said.

Alternate spots to fix include
the intersection of Allegheny River Boulevard and Delaware Avenue, the crosswalk at 518 Allegheny River Blvd., the intersection of Allegheny River Boulevard and Washington Avenue, a section near the Oaks Theater, and a section in front of 736 Allegheny River Blvd.

Councilman Jim Parsons mentioned that it’s a common misconception of borough residents that bricks on the boulevard were replaced around 20 years ago. He said only spot repairs occurred at that time.

Parsons raised the question of what would be done differently during this round of spot repairs to avoid needing to address repairs again so quickly.

Wingrove said while he wasn’t on the repair project 20 years ago, he suspects some of the sub-base concrete beneath the brick was not fully replaced where the borough is currently seeing failures in the road.

“That sub-base may have continued to deteriorate underneath,” Wingrove said. “Under this proposal, we would replace all of that.”

Costs for fixes along the priority list are projected to be just under $340,000. Costs for alternate spots are projected to be a little more than $192,000.

“We propose to open bids between your work session and regular meeting in August,” Wingrove said.

Borough Manager Scot Fodi said the borough has money for the current stage of the proposed project. In the future, as the project evolves and plans for the other sections of brick are addressed, the borough will reexamine costs.

Council president Nancy Ride said borough officials are looking into grants for the work.

Wingrove recommended council apply for a grant from the state’s Multimodal Transportation Fund to replace bricks along the boulevard from Terrace Place to the entrance of Ace Hardware and Panera parking lot nearest to Boulevard Smiles.

The borough, Wingrove said, can apply for up to $3 million in funding for the project.

“We think it’s worth throwing our hat into the ring for something here,” he said. “If we get a lesser amount, then we can discuss materials.”

Council plans to vote on the proposed spot repair program and grant application July 20. Officials will continue to discuss funding and repair options for the future phases.