Etna sewer project will close Kittanning Street for 30 days

A stormwater project off Kittanning Street in Etna is expected to begin Friday – nearly a month after the original start date was postponed.

A portion of the road will be shut off to most traffic for about a month. The project targets the stretch between Greismere and Snyder streets. Work is expected to begin at 6 p.m.

No vehicles, including emergency vehicles or buses, will be able to drive through the work area until 6 a.m. Monday while crews install a manhole.

Afterward, emergency vehicles will be allowed to use the road for the duration of the project.

Borough Manager Mary Ellen Ramage said construction will be done between Sharps Hill Road and Route 8, where recent paving was diverting stormwater and causing the road to deteriorate.

Allison Park Contractors will be installing new catch basins between Greismere and Catherine streets, she said.

Etna’s troubles started after PennDOT’s most recent paving of Kittanning Street, a state road.

Ramage said issues began along Snyder Street where the road was rapidly deteriorating. That road, in particular, was a problem because the road serves as the sole entrance and exit to the residential area.

The neighborhood includes homes in Etna and Shaler.

Ramage said crews were able to pinpoint the source of the road issues to stormwater runoff.

“It was, due to the paving, heading straight to this roadway entrance as well as other areas above this street,” she said.

Work on the project will be weather dependent, and residents that live within the work zone will have access to the road.

The recommended detours will be posted. Residents that live below Griesmere or Snyder streets should drive south on Kittanning Street toward Route 8.

All residents that live above Griesmere Street should travel north on Kittanning Street toward Sharps Hill/Dorseyville Road.