Part of Route 28 near Harmar Township closed due to rock slide

Part of Route 28 near Harmar Township remains closed after a big rock slide on Tuesday night.

Randy Flick, of Verona, knows how busy Route 28 can get in Allegheny County. He takes it a few times a week to do his regular errands.

"[Route 28's] a main artery through here, and when they have to close one lane down, it's pretty significant," Flick said on Wednesday.

As he passes the hillsides, one thing usually crosses his mind.

"You could be driving right along, and next thing you know, a rock kicks loose for whatever reason, comes down, and you probably never see it. It could crush your car with you in it," Flick said.

On Tuesday night, PennDOT closed one of the southbound lanes just past the Harmar exit. PennDOT District 11 Assistant Executive of Maintenance Lori Musto said engineers checked out the site of the rock slide on Wednesday in daylight.

"There does appear to be possibly one more rock that could be loose up above," Musto said.

That is one of PennDOT's concerns. Their other has to do with the thaw.

"There are some icicles that still need to melt up high on the slope. And when those icicles, when the melting does occur, they're worried that it could trigger some additional material to come down," Musto said.

At the moment, PennDOT is keeping the lane closed to keep everyone safe and to clear the catchment below the rockfall. Musto said there are no plans, at this point, to expand the fencing that was put in following a similar slide back in 2020.

"We just continue to monitor key areas that we know have issues, constantly looking for new areas that are forming," Musto said.

The situation is nothing new for PennDOT, which has faced slides on Route 28 in different areas of the highway for decades. Flick just hopes next time he's driving past the hillsides, he continues to stay out of the vicinity.

"When it's your time to go, it's your time to go. But there's certain things you could do to stave that off a little way," Flick said.