Lower Burrell’s Dutchmans Run landslide and road repair expected to begin in 2 weeks

The famously serpentine and tight Dutchmans Run in Lower Burrell, a main connector to Route 780, Penn State New Kensington and Arconic, will be repaired starting in about two weeks after a landslide winnowed down a section of road.

“That road has been in disarray for close to three years; what is anybody doing about it?” Lower Burrell Councilman Joe Grillo asked council during their Monday night meeting.

No one had an answer.

Grillo drives the road daily and negotiates the cement barrier and stop signs that allow only one vehicle to pass through in the middle of the road.

“Somebody who doesn’t know the road at night and goes to, say, Penn State, might have a tough time,” Grillo said. “Can a firetruck make it up there?”

PennDOT confirmed Tuesday plans are in the works to shore up the slide and repair the road starting in about two weeks.

The project will close the road for about two months, maybe less, said Jay Ofsanik, PennDOT spokesman.

The average number of cars per day traveling Dutchmans Run is 1,600.

The landslide is among some 200 slides that PennDOT is monitoring in District 12, which includes Westmoreland, Fayette, Washington and Greene counties.

Heavy rains in 2018 and 2019 caused the spate of slides, according to PennDOT officials.

In 2019, PennDOT estimated it would cost more than $4 million to fix more than 200 slides.

Ofsanik did not have a cost estimate yet for the Dutchman Run project.

Work crews will dig out the loose soil and shore up the landslide first, then repair the road, he said.

PennDOT will announce the project details and detour route in the weeks to come.