Beaver County Commissioners released a statement Monday saying they are willing to help expedite the process for PennDOT to make necessary repairs to Wildwood Drive.
They said they just learned that PennDOT doesn’t plan to put the project out to bid until mid-to-late 2028 after Channel 11 reported on it last week.
On Thursday, Channel 11 showed a video posted on Facebook that looked at the current condition of Wildwood Drive. The road closed in April 2025 because of a landslide.
It’s still closed and has not yet been fixed.
“It seems to be taking a lot longer than expected to fix this problem,” said Bill Pasquale, director of operations for Medic Rescue.
PennDOT told Channel 11 the repair is a large-scale rock slope repair, and they would need right-of-way for park land owned by Beaver County to complete the work.
County commissioners put out a statement Monday morning, saying they only learned about how long it would take because of Channel 11’s reporting.
“The Beaver County Commissioners have recently become aware of news reports that PennDOT does not intend to start the bid process for repairs to Wildwood Drive until mid to late 2028 as a result of a necessary right-of-way being located on “protected park land [which will require] a lengthy acquisition process.”
Wildwood Road remains an important access route priority for Beaver County. We receive calls and inquiries on a continual basis from the public, first responders, and the healthcare community. We relay those concerns to PennDOT at public input meetings and other governmental and department channels. We are committed to working with PennDOT to gain its reopening without “lengthy delays due to right of way” issues.
The County Commissioners understand and appreciate the number of road slides that PennDOT must deal with on a regular basis. We also greatly appreciate their recognition of the importance of reopening Wildwood Drive ASAP due to its proximity to AHN Beaver hospital and the Beaver County Courthouse; and therefore, we commit to immediately providing any required right-of-way as quickly as legally permissible. To date, Beaver County has not been approached regarding any such needs nor the any specific planning on the repair. We eagerly await collaborating with PennDOT on its reopening."
“It’s good that they’re involved because they can help facilitate that process,” Pasquale said.
Pasquale said Medic Rescue would like to see Wildwood Drive fixed soon because another route to the hospital, Beaner Hollow Road, has issues of its own.
PennDOT told Channel 11 they’ve made some minor repairs to that road since Wildwood Drive is closed.
“Losing another road that travels up and down that hill and especially is a direct access to the hospital would be a significant impact to our ability to deliver people efficiently to the facility,” Pasquale said. “It would necessitate a significant detour and add considerable time to any of our responses to the hospital.”
PennDOT sent the following statement to Channel 11 in response to the commissioner’s statement:
“PennDOT is committed to doing everything possible to expedite the remediation of this landslide. As we progress through this project, we will engage leadership with Beaver County for acquisition of any required right of way of the protected land. Park property acquired with Project 70 state funds carry constitutional and legislative restrictions in Pennsylvania. Releasing or changing the use of Project 70 lands requires formal approval and action by the Pennsylvania General Assembly alongside DCNR review. We continue to work through the design, permitting, and right of way process of this significant landslide.”
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