Elizabeth picks engineers for riverwalk trail project

The goal of the Riverwalk project is to bring more people and businesses into the borough.

During Tuesday’s monthly meeting, Elizabeth Council discussed several upcoming projects thanks to grants the borough received.

The planning committee met last week to review the request for the engineer plans for the Riverwalk Walking Trail Project, and the Americans with Disabilities Act Accessible Pedestrian Walkway project along the Monongahela River.

Borough manager Scott Craighead also reviewed the request for qualifications for the engineering services for the project. Craighead and the planning committee also met yesterday afternoon to affirm the decision.

Craighead added they are also going to talk with neighboring communities to see if they have any interest in the Riverwalk project. The plan is to start the path at the fishing pier and go down to the boat launch in the borough.

“We were very pleased with some of the quality of some of the candidates that came in for that,” Craighead said. “There were two that came to the forefront when we met with them and after a further conference call with those two, for a couple reasons, we chose LSSE to do it. They really laid out everything cleanly and they are the only folks that really gave us a detailed budget.”

LSSE (Lennon, Smith, Souleret Engineering Inc.) is a civil engineering and surveying firm headquartered in Coraopolis.

The goal of the Riverwalk project is to bring more people and businesses into the borough. After reviewing several proposals, the committee recommended LSSE because of the firm’s detailed plans, overall expertise to accomplish the needs of the project and local experience in the borough, according to Tuesday’s agenda. LSSE also works as engineers for the borough’s municipal authority.

The borough approved the request for engineering services for the Riverwalk design and project plan from LSSE with a budget of $100,000 provided from an American Rescue Plan Act grant. They also approved applying for a $500,000 Pa. Department of Conservation and Natural Resources grant for project construction.

Engineers told Craighead the predicted construction cost of $250,000 was not going to work with the scope of the project they were looking to do, so they increased the amount to $500,000 and added the tourism component to the plan.

“After some advice from (South Hills Area Council of Governments) meetings and some other things, we decided we better get a good engineering plan in place so that we can pursue federal funds, matching funds. That’s why we wanted to get this approved so now we have an engineering plan that is very laid out about people’s qualifications and things and the plan itself. This just to get something started down there that enables us to show that we have a plan in place.”

One of the concerns Craighead and the committee had was the possibility of having to drill into the river for the walking path, which would add around $100,000 in fees.

“We got to get something started down there and I think we have a good start with this process so that we can put in additional funds because of the engineering and the things we are doing,” Craighead said. “It looks very beneficial for us at this time and overcoming some of the budget issues, like some of the permits, they feel like they can fit everything in.”

Maple Avenue

Craighead also discussed that he met with borough engineers to review the bids placed for the Maple Avenue Project, which has also been months in the making.

The goal is to finish the retaining wall, provide guide rails and pave the street, according to Craighead.

The board awarded the retaining wall contract to the lowest bidder – A. Folino Construction, Inc. – for the amount of $345,360.

“We were able to move some things around to get the paving done also with the proper guiderails and things,” he said. “There’s still some room if we happen to have some contingencies or anything with the grants. All the engineer fees should pretty much be covered with grant money, so we would have to get a lot of it covered in expenses out of pocket.”

Resident Andy Miklos asked about if there is any funding allotted to cutting dead trees away, the dirt and rocks that fall onto the street as well as the lack of drains along the road near McKeesport Road.

“Some of the problems down there is the water has been going over that and eroding what’s underneath,” Miklos said.

Craighead said that was good to hear because he wanted the engineers to look into any additional funds that might be available for other parts of the street. They wanted $411,000 for the project.

The engineer will investigate an additional drain as well as a curve on the street to help with stormwater, according to Craighead.

“Even within the grant itself, the company that took it was the low bidder, but it was kind of strange because they bid lower on some of the major stuff, but some of the smaller projects they had a high bid on, which was the removal of some things like barriers and taking some of the old block out,” he added. “Those are some things where they have a lot of money.”