Westmoreland County residents say low-hanging tree is dangerous

A large tree is hanging over a major road in Westmoreland County.

Darrell Mauser comes face-to-face with the nearly 50-foot tree when he opens his front door in Murrysville.

"It's going to be serious when it happens; that tree is going to fall," Mauser said. 

The tree is resting on wires as the root of the tree bulges up from the ground along William Penn Highway, a major roadway in the county. Mauser said the tree came down during a storm last month, and he's been calling utility companies ever since, but has heard nothing in return.

"I don't know where to go with it next," he said.

After some research and calling around, KDKA learned the company responsible is Windstream, a telecommunications company. The tree is leaning on its wires. A spokesperson for Windstream said they don't know when contractors will inspect this.

The president of the Delmont Borough Council said the council was told the same thing on Tuesday morning. 

"It's a heavily traveled road and one of the things that travel every day are the school buses," Bob Walczer, president of the council, said. 

Walczer said it's been five weeks since he asked for the tree to be removed. He wants it done before there's another storm.

"It's a nationwide corporation, it's their property. They should be the ones to maintain it," Walczer said. "If any problems occur, they're going to be the ones ultimately that have to pay for damages or wind up having to do the removal."