Traffic issues arise with McKees Rocks Bridge project, accidents starting to occur more frequently

MCKEES ROCKS, Pa. — “It’s miserable,” said Drew Sunderman.

“It’s pretty dangerous at night,” said Rae Zellous.

“It has doubled my commute time,” said Robert Bartolacci.

It has also doubled response times.

“We’re talking life and death here,” said NorthWest EMS District Chief Dylan Laplante.

Laplante says that since the McKees Rocks Bridge project started in September, there have been four crashes — including a head-on collision. Laplante says at this rate, there will be 24 accidents on the bridge in a year.

“We’re shooting for a 10-minute time,” said Laplante. “With no extrication. To get the patient in the truck and on the way to the hospital.”

In the head-on crash, Laplante says it took 20 minutes for rescuers to get to the scene because of the traffic and lane configurations.

“So, any critical patient is going to be in pretty big trouble,” said Laplante.

Laplante, along with the police and fire chiefs of McKees Rocks and Stowe townships, met with PennDOT to discuss these concerns. They want to see a lane specifically for emergency vehicles.

In a statement, PennDOT said: “The department is open to suggestions from emergency providers to improve safety. However, two options that have been discussed — one-way detours and an open lane for only emergency vehicles — allow for human error and we feel strongly will only create confusion and increase head-on crash risks significantly. "

“It’s in PennDOT’s court,” said Stowe Township Police Chief Matthew Preininger.

Another problem is that the bridge didn’t have any lights for several days.

“At night, without the lights, it’s very dangerous,” said Zellous.

“It was brought to our attention that the lights were out over the overnight period, which is already adding more problems to an already problematic situation,” said Preininger.

PennDOT has since improved the lighting at night and adjusted the lights and sensors. It’s also currently testing out a preemptive emergency traffic system.

“It hears our sirens and turns the lights green,” said Laplante. “But again, it doesn’t help with incidents on the bridge. They’re expecting us to have a blaring siren behind a lane of traffic. They don’t know what to do. Do they stop? Do they go into the oncoming lane? What do they do?”

PennDOT’s statement started by saying:

“Safety is our highest priority and the department has continuously worked with emergency providers to make sure that motorists and workers are protected. PennDOT has been working with the contractor to adjust signal timings and signal sensor locations. The installation of a pre-emptive emergency traffic signal system is ongoing, and in the testing process. We will need the assistance of emergency responders to adjust and tweak this system to ensure optimum performance. This could take time, moving sensors to the best locations, adjusting signal times, etc. The intent of this system is for a sensor to hear a siren, turn the traffic lights green for traffic exiting the bridge, and holding it green until the emergency provider can get through.

“Additionally, PennDOT has offered to lease staging areas for emergency providers to utilize on the opposite side of the bridge (from their facility), to essentially eliminate the time it takes to cross the bridge completely.”

“They offered to rent the building on the 65 side for us, but we already have a station over there,” said Laplante. “I have my operations set. We’re still servicing our Bellevue, Avalon, Emsworth. All of our areas over there. They’re still getting great response times because we changed our operational plan. Our biggest concerns are the incidents in the middle of the bridge, and what we’re supposed to do to help these people.”

Laplante and Preininger say they’ve done all they can to adjust their emergency plans.

“I don’t think any of us have slept since this started,” said Laplante. “I’m so upset. I’m nervous. And it’s just not fair. It’s not right.

Now, they say it’s up to PennDOT to do more before it’s too late.

“Please help us,” said Preininger. “Please. Before somebody loses a life.”

This project isn’t supposed to be finished until the fall of 2024.

“It is a very long project,” said Laplante. “Might be able to deal with this for a month or two, but we’re talking years here.”

PennDOT District Executive Cheryl Moon-Sirianni says PennDOT has tried one-way detours in the past and depending on the situation, those one-way detours have caused a lot of problems. In fact, PennDOT used them on two projects where it had to stop using them.

“What happens is, unless you totally block the lane off to everyone, people will use that lane and make the wrong turn,” said Moon-Sirianni. “We would have to put in a barrier. If you put signs up, people will go around them. The way the McKees Rocks Bridge is now much more safe than having an open lane reserved for emergency vehicles.”

Moon-Sirianni says the other reason a complete detour is difficult is the volume of traffic the McKees Rocks Bridge carries. About 22,000 vehicles go over the McKees Rocks Bridge a day. If half of that volume is redirected, it would have to go over another bridge and the best route would be to take those cars over the West End Bridge, which is already at capacity.

PennDOT says it is in touch with all the emergency responders impacted by this. Other things that PennDOT is looking into right now include installing a closed-circuit TV camera, which EMS, fire and police could use to see how to approach the bridge during an emergency. PennDOT is also looking into adding new signs, turning lanes and paving to make sure the surface of the bridge is in good condition so no one is inclined to swerve to avoid a pothole.

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