State to close North Huntingdon shortcut
It looks more like a rural, all-terrain vehicle course, yet hundreds of North Huntingdon motorists, commercial trucks and even emergency vehicles use the 50-foot-long Emil's Way every day to gain quick access from Route 30 to Center Highway.
This popular little byway at the foot of Jacktown Hill is causing more of a stir than the dust and potholes that make up its surface.
After wrangling with township officials over who is responsible for its maintenance, a PennDOT official announced Thursday that Emil's Way will be closed because it is not a dedicated street, but simply a right-of-way people used as a road.
"We never questioned the ownership. It's a PennDOT right-of-way that was used like a road. We have never had a road. We have not maintained a road there. There are a lot of safety issues with the use of that. Our intent is to close that access," said Ron Clark, PennDOT assistant district maintenance executive.
The property was purchased for the right-of-way from John and Darlene Hanko 18 years ago as part of a Route 30 reconstruction project, not to create a road, Clark said.
He could not say when it will be closed.
Emil's Way was named by township commissioners in honor of resident and longtime businessman Emil Klanchar in August 2003, at the request of his daughter, Beverly. A street sign was erected proclaiming the honor.
When contacted yesterday, Beverly Klanchar said her father died Wednesday at age 100.
She said she was surprised and disappointed at the state's decision.
"I thought that maybe they would end up widening it," she said, noting she hoped to get the road sign as memorabilia before the access closed.
"If they are going to close that road, I must have that sign," she said. "My father owned four businesses in that area since 1933 and continued working for his lawn mower repair business until he was 92."
A dispute regarding responsibility for the road's maintenance has been going between the township and the state for so long that North Huntingdon Public Works Director Rich Albert can't even remember the last time anyone did any type of work on Emil's Way, although there is some evidence there was some asphalt applied over the years.
"It's in deplorable condition," he said, noting the loss of the road will have a significant impact on local businesses, as well as motorists.
"There's a lot of truck traffic through there that will have to go all the way up Jacktown Hill and come back around. Numerous cars use it as a shortcut from Route 30," he said.
Clark said closing Emil's Way will force motorists to use a safer access to Center Highway from Buttermilk Hollow Road at the top of Jacktown Hill.
Attorney Jerry Tierney, whose office is near Emil's Way on Center Highway, referred to Emil's Way as "the North Huntingdon Bermuda rectangle." He represented the Hankos when the state purchased a portion of their property for $76,000 in 1989 and is baffled by the state's decision to close the access.
According to a civil suit filed by the Hankos against PennDOT 18 years ago, the state "did appropriate a certain portion of (their property) for the construction of an asphalt roadway for vehicular traffic linking Route 30 and Center Highway in the township of North Huntingdon. The date of that take was July 1, 1986."
In those papers, the Hankos claimed that the roadway built by the state caused a drainage problem on their property. The state then bought a portion of it for $76,000, as per the lawsuit.
"To me, it's ridiculous to spend $76,000 on a piece of ground that they are not going to use," he said.
Commission Chairman Rich Gray said he was disappointed the state would close Emil's Way and worries about public service employees who use the access on calls.
"I know the police cut through there, as well as ambulance services and fire vehicles. But, I also understand the safety issue the state is concerned about," he said.
Gray said if there is enough public outcry about losing the access road, he would ask the board to consider petitioning the state to keep Emil's Way open.
