Collapsed retaining wall leaves man isolated from community, officials looking for funds to fix it

JEANNETTE, Pa. — A retaining wall on Chestnut Street in Jeannette sits in pieces at the bottom of a hill. Neighbors told Channel 11 it fell a few years ago, and some of them have been stuck on the road ever since.

Warren McCarthy would usually drive his motorized wheelchair down this part of the street to get to the grocery store and other businesses in downtown Jeannette. Now his closest option is to go down Lavelle Street, but his wheelchair’s battery can’t handle the step hill.

“It’s bull crap. It makes me regret living on this street,” said McCarthy.

“He’s paying somebody every day to go to the store for him, which is just ridiculous,” his neighbor, Roger McCrobie, said.

McCrobie said he feels for his neighbor and wants to see a solution after years of the wall being down.

“Even if they make it a one-way street! Put those retainers up against the wall, and cars could still go down there,” said McCrobie.

Channel 11 went to City Manager Ethan Keedy with the neighbors’ concerns. He is very familiar with the street and has been working on a fix.

“We’ve gotten quotes anywhere from 4 million dollars for a total reconstruction of this wall to 1 million dollars to backfill up against it,” Keedy said.

Keedy said the city has applied for 4 different grants to repair the street, but only got one. He said the delay is because of the massive cost of the fix.

“We were fortunate enough to get $605,000 allocated for that project,” explained Keedy, “But the minimum cost for the city is going to be a requirement of $300,000 to $400,000.”

Keedy said there are storm drains, waterlines, and gas lines that run underneath the road. So, engineers are currently speaking with utility companies about where those lines would need to go for construction to start. Last year, the city spent $12,000 to add this dark wedge curb to avoid stormwater causing more damage to the wall and neighbors below.

“We don’t want to do something that’s going to crumble again in the next 15 years,” said Keedy.

Thankfully, no one lives in the home the wall has fallen onto, but neighbors say they’re getting more impatient. The city manager says they understand and are looking for new funding opportunities daily.

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