Improvements Coming to Washington Township Road

by Jonathan Weaver

It might be only considered a “band-aid,” but Washington Township supervisors stood behind several residents who wanted to see improvements to a local dangerous roadway.

More than a dozen township residents attended last night’s rescheduled supervisors’ meeting to address their concerns about Wattersonville Road.

Resident John Smith was the first to bring up the topic, saying spots on the road need to be graded.

“It actually takes your car off the road and throws you to one side,” Smith said. “It needs to be graded badly.”

Another resident mentioned he just “inched by” a passing school bus since school started last week and reminded supervisors of a bad car accident along the roadway at the beginning of August.

“Literally, we both came to a stop, looked at each other and inched by each other.”

Rick Waddell also has come close to a vehicle accident.

“Everybody in Wattersonville I’m pretty sure has had a very-close call because of the ruts and trenches,” Waddell said. “It’s dangerous.”

Washington Township Supervisor Chair Bryan Ploski sympathized with the crowd.

“We all know that’s a bad road. It’s just, we don’t have enough money to go the whole way from the main road clear down to the end of the road so we’re just trying to do what we can to it, Ploski said.

“We’re going to try to do as best as we can. We don’t have $200,000 to go down through there and do that whole stretch. Trust me, I wish I could go out there and pave every road we could, but unfortunately, there’s not a budget to do it. We just try to maintain as much as we can. Moving forward, that’s all we can do.”

Road edging will be completed by the end of October after supervisors approved a bid contract.

Shields Asphalt was the lower of two bidders – bidding more than $28,600 at a special meeting July 28 - to edge Wattersonville Road and was awarded that contract

Supervisor Marshall Bergad explained more than half of the money for that edging came from a State grant.

“It sounds like a lot of money, but even with $30,000 – there are going to be places it’s going to be better, but it’s not going to be perfect. That’s just like a dot on that section of road,” Ploski said.

Shields’ bid came after the project was rebid due to a $64,000 bid the first time.

Supervisors have also talked about milling portions of the roadway, but in the meantime, Ploski said new township road worker Joe Freeman will help keep the road safe.

Resident Bob Welch called the road “a public safety hazard” and asked the supervisors to ask legislators for more grant money.

Bergad said he has also reached his hand out to local business owners.

“I’ve reached out to people, talked to people to see if they’d help us out,” Bergad said. “No one wants to give you any money.”

The project has to be completed before the end of October to receive grant funding

To increase the budget next year, supervisors have brainstormed a flat $100 recreational fee assessed for campers.

“I’m pretty-sure no one would move out for $100. Not one person is going to leave for $100, but we could use the money,” Bergad said.

The road conditions were also a subject presented to Armstrong County Commissioners during last week’s town hall meeting in Sugarcreek Township.

Bergad estimated the township of less than 1,000 residents will close out 2016 spending less than $300,000.

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