Are Charleroi’s streets too dangerous?

Many residents and officials believe they are, but police and fire department records don’t show a spike in traffic accidents.

Traffic crashes in Charleroi aren’t rising, but public concern is.

Despite data showing relatively steady crash numbers in recent years, the issue has become a flashpoint for borough residents and officials alike — fueled by social media, high-profile incidents and ongoing debate about what’s being done to improve safety.

At Wednesday’s council meeting, the conversation returned to center stage, with frustrations aired and progress questioned.

While borough officials have taken steps to improve traffic conditions, the matter remains a recurring concern — with some residents calling for quicker action and others questioning whether enough has been done.

Councilman Larry Celaschi, who brought the issue back into public discussion in 2024, has continued to question how the borough is handling the problem.

Last month, he pointed out comments made by former mayor Terry Newstrom, who addressed council to deliver his frustration.

“(Newstrom expressed) concerns that so many of us are feeling about the growing number of auto accidents plaguing Charleroi,” Celaschi said. “These crashes are destroying lives, damaging property and leaving residents in constant fear.”

Some residents, including Newstrom, have attributed the issue to language barriers or unfamiliarity with traffic laws among new immigrant drivers.

Some borough officials, however, stressed that the crashes involve a wide range of residents and are tied to more than just confusion over signage or traffic laws.

On Wednesday, Celaschi criticized what he called a continued lack of progress.

“Multiple times this year we have talked about putting up some traffic signs throughout the community to help reduce the liability exposure that’s on this borough from erratic driving and we have not made any progress on that,” Celaschi said.

President Kristin Hopkins started by pointing out that the borough would not be held liable unless something negligent had been done.

“To make a statement that the borough is liable … for individual people’s accidents is simply not true,” Hopkins said.

Celaschi countered that Hopkins, as an insurance agent, should understand the risks better.

Hopkins asked him to provide specific intersections or examples, but Celaschi said the discussion has been ongoing for a year and that the road crew should have already resolved these issues in coordination with Borough Manager Joe Manning.

Councilman Jerry Jericho noted that many stop signs have already been replaced or installed.

“Have you noticed that almost all of our stop signs are like new?” he said. “They have been (installing signs) all summer long. If you go down to the garage, you will see a stack of signs. New stop signs, new one-way signs. Just go around and look.”

Manning confirmed Jericho’s point, saying stop signs and other traffic signs have been replaced and repositioned throughout the borough.

“We have moved stop signs from one side of the street to the other, added stop signs, raised them where cars are parked and people could not see, we put a mirror on one intersection,” Manning said. “We have looked at solar-powered lights for the signs, battery powered, and I told them to do whatever they needed to do.”

Hopkins said she had been waiting for Celaschi to convene a meeting about alleys and traffic issues as he had promised last month, but it never came to fruition.

She defended the borough’s efforts, including working with Charleroi Regional Police and supporting the street department.

Manning added that he is currently evaluating a traffic- calming program discussed during the September meeting by Ben Humble, president of Waynesburg Borough Council in Greene County.

Humble had described how his town partnered with PennDOT to reconfigure traffic flow using a technique called “lane slowing,” which he said significantly reduced crashes in high-traffic areas.

Manning said he has been reviewing the project in Waynesburg and the program, which starts with what he called the “three E’s” — examination, enforcement and execution.

Safety measures for each road installed under that program could cost about $12,000 and would require a PennDOT study — but the borough is doing its due diligence to get that ball rolling, Hopkins said.

By the numbers

More so, she wanted to point out that in conjunction with council’s ongoing efforts, the data speaks for itself.

Charleroi’s fire and police departments track crash data separately, and those numbers help clarify what’s happening on borough streets.

The Charleroi Volunteer Fire Department responds to accidents in the borough — often those involving injuries, hazards or vehicle entrapments.

In 2022, they handled 40 serious accidents, including 23 injury crashes and three with people trapped inside vehicles. That number dipped in 2023 to 29, but rose again in 2024 to 41. As of the end of August 2025, the department had already responded to 32 serious accidents, 16 of which involved injuries.

Meanwhile, the Charleroi Regional Police Department logs a broader range of incidents — including non-reportable crashes and hit-and-runs.

In 2023, CRPD recorded 141 total crashes, followed by 126 in 2024.

Through August 2025, they’ve documented 93, putting this year on track to match previous years, without seeing a spike as high as might be expected by some leaders or residents.

Police Chief Chad Zelinsky explained the discrepancy between police and fire department numbers.

“Our numbers are higher because they include non-reportable and hit and runs. The FD only basically has reportable crashes,” he said. “We are not skyrocketing with accidents … the only number that has increased is the citations issued — which is funny because everyone says we do not issue citations.”

Citations on the rise

As Hopkins and Zelinsky stated, citation numbers have indeed spiked.

In 2022, officers issued 987 citations. That figure grew to 1,015 in 2023, dipped slightly in 2024 but soared to 1,252 during the first eight months of 2025 alone.

Zelinsky added that public perception may be influenced more by social media than data trends.

Posts about accidents on platforms like Facebook may make them seem more frequent than they are statistically.

Construction has caused many headaches over the summer as utility companies complete a large improvement project on both of the borough’s main streets.

It’s been discussed among those who live and work in the borough whether a traffic study project also completed last year has had any impact.

The main goal of the $6 million Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality Improvement (CMAQ) project was to reduce traffic congestion and improve air quality in the borough by replacing 15 outdated traffic signals along McKean Avenue (Route 88 North) and Fallowfield Avenue (Route 88 South).

According to PennDOT, 18 reportable crashes occurred along Route 88 in Charleroi between 2020 and 2025.

Many were attributed to improper turns, distracted driving or running red lights.

“The crashes were distributed throughout the borough, and none of the intersections rank in the top 10 of any high crash lists,” PennDOT Safety Press Officer Emily Swecker said. “To try to reduce these crashes, we recently completed a project to upgrade 15 intersections within this corridor.”

In response, the state recently completed upgrades at 15 intersections — enhancing traffic signals, signage and pavement markings.

Eleven intersections received new signal technology, while four had signals removed and replaced with stop signs.

Highly reflective backplates and “piano key” crosswalks were also installed to increase visibility.

“Regardless of whether the signals were replaced or removed, enhancements were done at every intersection,” she said. “All signage was replaced with new, more reflective signage. All pavement markings were replaced. All crosswalk markings were upgraded to larger, ‘piano key’ crosswalks to enhance visibility. All signal heads had reflective yellow backplates installed to enhance visibility.

“In the coming years, we will be completing a project to repair the pavement and perform some miscellaneous roadway drainage repairs on Route 88.”

She noted that PennDOT only tracks reportable crashes, and there are other minor incidents that could have occurred but are not part of PennDOT records and that Road Safety Audits are confidential reports that can’t be shared.

Social media fans the flames

Many Charleroi residents have grown increasingly uneasy as traffic incidents unfold close to home — sometimes literally outside their front doors.

Sightings of vehicles running red lights, speeding through intersections or driving the wrong way on narrow streets have fueled a sense of daily risk.

Social media has amplified those concerns, with residents regularly sharing photos, videos and firsthand accounts of accidents or near-misses.

For many, the constant stream of posts paints a picture of a borough where dangerous driving isn’t just a statistic — it’s something they witness, document and worry about in real time.

“If you see, we have always had accidents in Charleroi,” Zelinsky said. “The construction could be a small factor, but we have always had accidents. I think they have become to light more because of Facebook, to be honest.”

The ongoing back and forth on the who, what, when, where and why surrounding the crashes has caused rifts on council, despite everyone wanting the same thing: the community to be safe.

Supporting emergency services questioned

Politics can be messy even if everyone has the right intent.

During Wednesday’s meeting, Councilman Robert Whiten Jr. also voiced frustration over what he sees as an imbalance in how the borough supports its emergency services.

He pointed out that while police responses receive consistent attention and funding, calls involving the fire department — including serious vehicle accidents — often stretch resources without the same level of financial or logistical backing.

Whiten raised concerns about the cost of equipment, lack of reimbursement for certain responses, and the broader expectation that the fire department continue delivering without comparable support. His remarks underscored a longstanding tension over how borough resources are prioritized between public safety departments.

Specifically, he brought up his long-standing request for a caution light at Third Street and McKean Avenue and lack of action fueling his decision to step away from office.

“There is a big sign there, no left turn, but how many people have gotten hit? I almost got hit twice last week with people coming the wrong way,” Whiten said. “I have been asking for two years and I always get the run around.”

Hopkins responded, explaining that a former borough solicitor advised against installing a caution light or jersey barrier in that location, citing liability concerns.

“I get it, the borough doesn’t run like the fire department, it runs in slow motion … but that doesn’t sit right with this guy,” Whiten said. “… I don’t have anything to tell my constituents that we did that I can hang my hat on.”

Despite disagreement about pace and scope, officials acknowledged that work is underway to address the issue as a whole and there is more to be done.

“I think you know we are all trying,” Hopkins said. “Sure, it always seems like too little or things happen beyond our control, but I think my phone number is always open,” Hopkins said.

The Mon Valley Independent obtained data for this report from the Charleroi Fire Department, Charleroi Regional Police Department and PennDOT District 12, which includes traffic and accident statistics from 2020 through Sept. 1, 2025. Rostraver West Newton EMS, which covers the borough, did not respond to a request for crash data prior to publication.