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Multiple landslides in September 2018 rendered a heavily used road, in Brown Township, impassable. A lack of construction activity in the area has begun to worry residents and business owners who were affected, prompting meetings with legislators.
It will cost an estimated $1.5 million to repair Slate Run Road, according to the Department of Conservation and Reservation which maintains the dirt road. An initial site meeting was held with design consultant, Stahl-Sheaffer, on Jan. 3.
The affected area runs about 725 feet. On Jan. 19, core samples were obtained and Slate Run Road was deemed "extremely hazardous," according to The Slate Run Road Closure Advisory Report, distributed by the DCR, which barred all vehicle and snowmobile travel on it.
Site Surveying was completed on Feb. 5 and a draft design bid was submitted, according to a Feb. 11 DCR press release .
State Representative Garth Everett (R-84th), who recently met with home and business owners in the area, said Senator Gene Yaw (R-Loyalsock Township) also has been very involved with the situation.
"We're going to see when we get back on to Harrisburg next week, if we can't get some kind of push on this particular project and see if they can't advance the schedule and get it done," said Everett. "Maybe in the summertime."
Everett said he has been out to the road and wondered why a one-way red light couldn't be used to allow for single lane traffic but was advised by engineers, who took core samples of the underlying area, that any weight on the road is unsafe
Since September, many locals have not seen much urgency from the DCR to complete the project; Everett said they feel forgotten and he sympathizes with them.
"People like to just use those roads to go out for a drive - whether they're looking at leaves, whether it's hunting season, fishing season or snowmobiling season or four wheeling season - they use this road a lot," he said.
It could be a safety issue, as well, if emergency vehicles are delayed, he added.
Tom Finkbinder, owner of Slate Run Tackle Shop and Wolfe's General Store, said he knows that the road being down will affect his business.
"I have to admit we were just very annoyed that very little action appeared to be taking place,"
he said. "On our type of business, you only have nine months to make business."
Positioned close to the PA Wilds, Finkbinder said he normally gets, "a whole pile of fisherman" in April, May and June, who bounce from watershed to watershed looking for the fishing hotspots.
And we have a very popular location here on Pine Creek called 'The Stretch.'"
Finkbinder said he owns a nonprofit organization that has donated $20,000 to stock the Slate Run River with large brown trout, which "If you get on, you'd almost think it was a wild trout."
"Every year these people travel from all over the western part of PA to fish here," he said.
But with the road down, drivers must take a 16-mile detour to get to the other side of Brown Township.
"It's really going to have an impact. There's no doubt about it," said Finkbinder.
Francis Road currently is being used as the detour route, but Finkbiner said it is windy and narrow, and believes many people will not want to travel it.
Finkbinder said, apart from being "beat up financially," he's worried Slate Run Road being down will create a stigma for the area and people will avoid Brown Township if it is known for roads being under construction.
"We're hoping that they're going to put a priority on certain roads and in the future and when one goes down, they're going to make a more concerted effort to get the thing back in shape as soon as possible," said Finkbinder