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Agreement for emergency route into Washington Park in the works

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South Strabane Township officials and their city counterparts are completing work on a final agreement that would make a two-decade-old proposal to build an alternative entrance into Washington Park for emergency purposes a reality.

Township supervisors Tuesday tabled a vote on whether to approve an intergovernmental agreement with the city that would allow the road to be built as part of a project underway by a state contractor.

The proposed drive would allow for an alternate entrance into the city-owned park – now accessible only by Dunn Avenue from West Maiden Street – from the affluent residential cul-de-sac of Clare Drive in South Strabane.

City officials began floating the idea for a second entrance to the park following a 1997 tire fire that nearly trapped students at Washington Park Elementary, which is still located there.

Washington Mayor Scott Putnam, who showed up to discuss the proposal with South Strabane officials, said city council has discussed the proposal and he expects it to approve the agreement during a meeting Sept. 13.

He stressed the use of the access road would be limited. “We’re not looking to use this as a permanent access or a congestion alleviation road,” he said.

Township supervisors’ next meeting when they could put the agreement to a vote is scheduled for Sept. 11.

Several people from Clare Drive – which township manager Brandon Stanick estimated hosts 20 to 25 houses – attended Tuesday’s meeting to ask questions or voice concerns. Most of the discussion among them, Putnam and township officials was focused on amendments or additions to the language of the ordinance.

Supervisors passed an ordinance strengthening township regulations for driveways connecting to public roads or doing work on public roads last month in advance of considering the agreement with the city.

Resident Andrew Meek said the “whole neighborhood” showed up for a discussion of that measure.

“We’re just here to make sure to remind you all to make sure that that they follow the ordinance, and I expect that you would,” Meek said.

Lane Construction Corp., a contractor for the state Department of Transportation, is using fill from a widening project on Interstate 70 near East Beau Street to create more usable space behind the park’s Stone Pavilion, under an agreement with city officials.

As part of its agreement with city officials, the contractor has agreed to build the emergency road.

The gate to the access road would be locked except in emergency situations – a category that wouldn’t include a need to relieve traffic congestion because of construction near the park.

The agreement would bar the city from designating it a trail or walkway, or allowing parking near the new entrance.

Construction of the driveway would have to be to the “sole satisfaction of the township,” according to the language of the proposal. The township would have the power to revoke the city’s driveway permit for the project if the city failed to comply with the terms of the agreement.

“The key is not to allow it to become a secondary access route to the park,” Supervisor Bracken Burns said following the meeting, adding he could appreciate residents’ desire to avoid that.

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