Crews installing new pipe after months-long Etna road closure

ETNA, Pa. — Parker Street in Etna closed in February because of a broken 60-inch water main that needed to be repaired, and it could be another six weeks before it reopens.

RAW: Drone 11 over Parker Street as crews install pipe

The closure has forced traffic onto Washington Street, a nearby winding, steep road, which residents said is busy all day.

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"Normally, it's pretty nice, but since that happened down at the bottom of the hill, it's been a disaster," said Walter Copeland. "I get woke up all times of the night."

Police officers have been stopping bigger trucks and buses right at the reservoir from going down the twisting, steep hill in an effort to alleviate the traffic burden.

"It's bumper-to-bumper, up and down," Copeland said.

Initially, Pittsburgh Water and Sewer Authority said it would take two months to fix the broken main. Etna’s borough manager, Mary Ellen Ramage, said the latest update she got from PWSA was that all the pipes and fittings came in last week. Crews are working 12-hour shifts until the repairs are done, which could be the end of June.

“You can only do so much work,” she said. “That hole is deep down there. That pipe has been down there for over 100 years. Matter of fact, my grandfather helped put that pipe in, long long time ago.”

On Friday morning, crews started work to put in a new 300-foot long pipe

Cox Media Group