Ross Township officials step up efforts to fix McKnight Road flooding

Ross Township officials will step up efforts to get property owners on McKnight Road to replace an aging stormwater line that's led to repeated flooding on the heavily traveled roadway.

Last Friday, workers discovered a portion of the line had collapsed in a wooded area around 100 feet from McKnight Road.

The troublesome pipe largely runs parallel to McKnight Road and is almost entirely on private property. That means it's the responsibility of businesses and landowners to make the repairs, which will likely cost more than $100,000.

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"They need to spend the money on it and they need to make repairs, because if someone loses property or even worse if someone loses their life on McKnight Road due to flooding, they could ultimately be held responsible," Ross Commissioner Steve Korbel said.

Korbel said more needs to be done to keep drivers safe and hopes more businesses will come forward to make repairs much cheaper. The next step for public works crews is to find where the aging pipe is the weakest then speak to the landowners about replacing it.

This comes less than three years after a sinkhole swallowed a car in the parking lot of a tanning salon on McKnight. The same aging pipe that caused that sinkhole is also being blamed for repeated flooding this summer.

Officials tell Channel 11's Aaron Martin the pipe is more than 20 years past its life expectancy.

Stay with Channel 11 News and WPXI.com for continuing coverage.

Cox Media Group