Crews work around clock
CRANBERRY TWP — Route 228 should be open, at least in part, by the evening rush hour, according to a Penn Power spokesman who said this morning that crews have finished putting up nine new poles in the area but have yet to rewire them.
Spokesman Chris Eck said the “time consuming” process has seen crews working for 36 straight hours to fix the poles, which fell into the road during a storm and high winds around 7 p.m. Tuesday.
The National Weather Service said Wednesday that winds of up to 85 mph toppled nine power lines in the township, causing Route 228 to close in both directions for more than 36 hours.
The storm packing the high winds rolled through the area Tuesday night and created significant damage along Route 228. Crews worked through the night Tuesday and all day Wednesday to erect new power poles and restring the electrical lines there.
Township manager Jerry Andree said Wednesday that the strong winds and resulting traffic delays were the “most significant event in my many years here.” Meteorologists with the National Weather Service have said the lines might have been felled by a downburst.
The closure has caused massive traffic headaches in and around the Cranberry area, as drivers have been forced to find alternate routes to work. The downed power lines shut down lanes in both directions of Route 228 from Route 19 to Cranberry Woods Drive.
“I am very, very impressed with everybody's response from PennDOT to Penn Power, the state police, the fire company,” Andree said. “Everybody came together and this really has been a team approach.”
Crews are still working on erecting the new power lines, which is expected to take a significant amount of time because of wet ground conditions and the fact that nine lines have to be replaced.
Peter Longini, a township spokesman, said he anticipates that most work would be completed between 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. today and have at least some lanes open for the evening rush hour.
Clearing the road is a particularly big job, with some of the lines being extremely heavy. Machinery is being used to pick up and move the lines, he said.
Some of the lines down were from Consolidated Communications. Company spokesman Laura ZuHone said she anticipates work being completed by late this evening. She said crews started working on Tuesday evening, but were slowed down because a truck ran over one of its lines.The lines reportedly weigh about 25 pounds per foot.Jason Dailey, the township's director of public works, said Wednesday that a lot of drivers in the area knew about the lane closures ahead of time and adapted their commutes accordingly.“A lot of people were smart in keeping up with the news, staying updated and making adjustments,” Dailey said. “Folks are definitely allowing more time to travel.”Sheila Holt, a spokesman for Westinghouse Electric, said earlier in the day that employees had also adjusted to the lane closures.Samantha D'Uva, a spokesman for MSA in Cranberry, said much of the same but added employees there were keeping a close eye on the situation.“There have been extended commutes for our employees, but we expected that,” she said. “Now everyone is just playing it by ear and seeing when things open back up. Everybody here is taking it in stride.”Some employees working in nearby businesses witnessed the intensity of storm.“We were right in the middle of it,” said Caitlyn Sherrock, a server at Anthony's Coal Fired Pizza.Heavy rains, blowing almost horizontally, blew through the restaurant's outdoor patio bringing diners inside around 7 p.m., Sherrock said.Since the power never went out, they got busy with people seeking refuge from the storm. However, due to the road closure business was very slow on Wednesday.Rori Rasel, manager of Sears Appliance and Mattress store, said the power went out in her business, causing the loss of air conditioning.The storm moved in quickly, causing damage to trees in the Cranberry Commons parking lot as well as some signs, including the Dick's Sporting Goods sign visible from Route 228, Rasel said.“It was just a wall of water out there, you couldn't even see the Marriott across the street,” she said.The storm caused Men's Warehouse to lose power for several hours Tuesday night, manager Greg Cooper said. Despite the lights going out the store remained open as customers waited for the rain to pass before leaving, Cooper said.“It was coming down as hard as it could. We were watching from inside and the trees were almost sideways,” he said.Cooper said Wednesday that customers had been calling to ask for alternate directions to the store.Eagle Staff Writer John Bojarski contributed to this report.
