Pittsburgh Mills roads to be repaved after mall owners reach agreement with Frazer Township

A yearslong battle with potholes at the Pittsburgh Mills may finally be coming to an end after the owners committed to paving the roadways right before they were set to go to trial next week.

The New York-based group Namdar Realty has agreed with Frazer Township to pave the roads after hundreds of code violation citations, millions of dollars in fines and a criminal charge from the Allegheny County District Attorney's Office.

KDKA-TV has provided extensive coverage on what many call the pothole plague. For years, deep and dangerous road conditions have left people swerving on the roadways around the Galleria at Pittsburgh Mills and surrounding shopping plazas.

For the community and those who travel to shop in the Mills, the news is exciting as they will no longer have to drive around hazards.

"That'll be a great thing for everybody involved," said Ahmad Wesley, who shops at the Pittsburgh Mills complex frequently.

"You can go from the right side of the road to the left just trying to avoid something and obviously traffic in the same lane you're going and direction. It could become an issue for sure. I think it has; I've seen a couple fender-benders," said David Heininger.

The pavement agreement comes on the heels of a trial that was set to begin on Monday, July 27. 

Steve Townsend is representing the group and says it has been rescheduled as a status conference. He also says the group is committed to addressing the property conditions, and considerable coordination was required to move this project forward, including obtaining the necessary permits and engineering reports and identifying an available, qualified and reputable contractor.

Frazer Township Manager Lori Ziencik released a statement saying:

"It is with immense satisfaction that I can confirm that Namdar has finally agreed to pave all roads in the Pittsburgh Mills complex. It has been a long, arduous process to get to this point. The paving would not have been achieved if it were not for the excellent legal advice from our attorneys at Babst Calland—in particular, Alexandra Farrone, the technical advice from Township Engineer Dan Martone, the Notices of Violation sent by Code Official Bill Payne, and the assistance of Chief Aaron Scott in compiling the long list of incident reports related to vehicle damages. It most certainly would not have been achieved without the criminal charges filed by the Allegheny County District Attorney Steve Zappala's office. The Board of Supervisors will remain vigilant in holding Namdar accountable for the condition of their property until all outstanding property violations have been addressed."

While the plans are to start paving soon, people are hopeful it finally does come to fruition and that ultimately, it'll make Pittsburgh Mills more marketable.

"I'm hoping so; it's been a long-going thing, like I said, so hopefully, they'll get it straightened out, and it'll increase business, I'm sure," said Heininger.

The roads set to be fixed include:

• Value Drive, from Pittsburgh Mills Circle to Sam's Club
• Retail Drive, from Value Drive to Village Center Drive
• Fashion Drive, from Pittsburgh Mills Boulevard to Pittsburgh Mills Circle
• Southerly part of Pittsburgh Mills Circle, from Mills Drive to Fashion Drive
• Mills Drive, from Butler-Logan Road to Pittsburgh Mills Circle
• Pittsburgh Mills Boulevard, from Route 28 to Pittsburgh Mills Circle
• Northerly part of Pittsburgh Mills Circle, from Mills Drive to Pittsburgh Mills Boulevard

Frazer Township says its engineer was on site with contractors on Friday morning to discuss the paving, and they hope the work will begin next week. Work will be weather permitting.

KDKA-TV has reached out to the Allegheny County District Attorney's Office for more information on whether the charges will be dropped due to the paving agreement, and has not heard back.