Crescent Awarded Grant to Repair Long-Closed Road

The Redevelopment Authority of Allegheny County has awarded Crescent Township a $200,000 grant to make repairs to the closed McCutcheon Way. 

Bob Hurley, deputy director of the Allegheny County Department of Economic Development, said the authority approved the grant earlier today. 

Crescent officials were forced to shutter McCutcheon Way in May 2011, after discovering that the roadway surface was sinking and sliding down hill.

The hillside road is the only access point to the township's Shouse Park, which has also been closed since spring of 2011. 

The estimated cost of repairing McCutcheon Way is $275,000. 

Hurley said through grant, known as the Community Infrastructure Tourism Fund, the township can be reimbursed for repairs to the roadway. 

The township and the Army Corps of Engineers earlier this year failed to reach an agreement to repair the road: The Army Corps offered to repair the road free of cost to the township if it could close Shouse Park to use as a staging area while it repaired the nearby Dashields Lock and Dam on the Ohio River. 

"The grant itself is designed to assist non-profits and municipalities with infrastructure and tourism projects," Hurley said. "This grant was necessary for both the municipality and the Army (Corps of Engineers) to reach the river." 

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