Roaring Spring to Receive $700,000 for North Main Street

North Main Street in Roaring Spring is in line for a major upgrade that will not only make it safer, but will also make the main road into town more aesthetically appealing.

Pennsylvania state Sen. Judy Ward and state Rep. Jim Gregory jointly announced the borough has been awarded a $700,000 grant by the Commonwealth Financing Authority's Multimodal Transportation Fund.

Borough Manager Lisa Peel said the money will be used to realign the street, moving it further from the railroad tracks toward where the wall used to stand, and improving traffic flow and pedestrian safety with new curbs, sidewalks and lighting.

"It will make that road much safer," Peel said.

A specific start date for the work has not yet been set but Peel said it should begin sometime next year.

Once complete, the project will put a bow on a years-long effort to address the portion of Main Street that has been a safety concern for borough officials for more than a decade. After years of dealing with a crumbling, and later collapsing wall, borough officials have methodically taken steps to secure ownership of the properties behind the wall while using stopgap measures to keep the area safe until a final solution was found.

As far back as 2010, Councilman Jeffrey Steward expressed concern about the condition of the wall. At the time, Steward noticed a hole in the wall and when he investigated further, discovered that support under the street was deteriorating.

"This problem is not going to go away," Steward accurately predicted.

Borough engineers had been periodically checking on the condition of the wall, but since it was not borough property, council's hands were tied with how far they could go to make repairs or otherwise secure it.

In 2018, council began negotiating with property owners to purchase the houses behind the wall with the intent to demolish them, clearing the way to resolving the wall issue.

Borough Solicitor Larry Lashinsky said at the time that purchasing the properties was a step toward determining how to resolve the North Main Street issue, saying that by securing ownership, future work on the area could be done without interference.

In December 2018, a portion of the wall collapsed, sending large stones out onto the road. Fearing a total collapse and in the interest of public safety, borough officials closed off the sidewalk and restricted traffic to one lane into town.

After the borough secured ownership of the properties behind the wall, they were finally able to move forward with a permanent solution. In 2019, council tore down two properties using a $20,000 grant from the Blair County Demolition Fund and a third with money secured through Community Development Block Grants, incurring no cost to the borough or taxpayers.

With the addition of the $700,000 grant, resolving the issues with North Main Street has come at minimal cost to the borough.

In a statement announcing the grant, Ward emphasized the importance of improving the borough's main corridor into town and making it more attractive to potential businesses.

The Altoona Blair County Development Corp. has been hosting potential buyers of the recently closed Appvion paper mill, and Ward said an attractive entrance into town could help lure business.

"The transportation improvement and streetscape project is important to the community of Roaring Spring for so many reasons, especially now," Ward said. "Not only will this improve safety for vehicular traffic, pedestrians, and rail, it will make the entrance to the town more attractive to visitors and create a positive image for prospective employers."