-INFRASTRUCTURE-
By Alice Crow
With the first phase of the Crafton Boulevard Streetscape well in hand, officials at Crafton’s July 28 council meeting discussed the second and third phases of the project, as well as, a grant award to improve staircases in the borough.
Council set in motion a request for grant funding in the amount of $1,453 million for the next two phases of the Crafton Boulevard Streetscape Project.
This funding will be used to make improvements in front of Crafton Elementary, including narrowing the road and providing bumpouts for parallel parking. New concrete curbing, lighting, landscaping and sidewalks will also be installed.
Minor changes to the bumpouts and a modification to the Clearview Avenue extension, as part of the next phase, will add an estimated additional cost of $2,100 to the project.
The changes are to provide additional protection and to create two more feet of turning width, as requested by Crafton Fire Chief Mike Crown.
Stairway repairs
Around $500,000 in grant money has been awarded to Crafton to help revamp various public stairs in the borough.
A Gaming Economic Development Tourism Fund grant of $220,000 will be used to repair the stairs on Belvidere Street to Afton Avenue, Crafton Boulevard to Walnut Street, Clearview Avenue to Crafton Boulevard and help with repairs to the Chess Street to Alley A stairs.
Another grant from State Rep. Dan Deasy in the amount of $300,00 will be used to finish repairs to Chess Street to Alley A and will revamp the stairs from Promenade to Fountain streets.
Four other sets of public stairs exist in Crafton, but these will not be altered during the project. Officials explained that stairs were selected for repair based upon their level of damage and the available funds to fully complete the staircases selected.
“We’re trying to triage and be equitable about how the funds are being distributed through the borough and being strategic,” said Councilperson Phillip Levasseur.
“I think the first round here has been meant to harden or improve the ones that we know need to exist and try to work through maintenance liability.”
Traffic signals
A motion authorizing the borough manager to execute a maintenance agreement between the borough and PennDOT was approved. This agreement was required in order to access a Greenlight Go grant awarded for the signal at Linden Avenue and Stueben Street.
This is a new policy by PennDOT which requires this agreement to exist before the issuance of a new or revised traffic signal permit.