Representatives from Pittsburgh Water and Sewer Authority and Chester Engineers were at our October 4 community meeting to discuss the upcoming Dobson Street water line replacement construction and answer questions from residents.  At the meeting, PWSA distributed the above flier to residents (click on the image above to see it full size).

The work will be done in two phases: Phase 1 will be the stretch of Dobson Street from Herron Avenue to Hancock Street, will start today, Oct. 6.  The first steps will be to start moving in equipment and to drill holes to locate utilities.  Phase 2 of the project, the section of Dobson from Hancock to Brereton, will come next; no start date was provided for that.  The entire project will take about 90 days.

During the project, there will be no parking and no vehicle access on the section underway during work hours (7:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m.).  At other times, the street will be accessible and residents can park — you’ll just need to move your vehicle before 7:00 a.m.  PWSA and Chester Engineering are aware that there will be some people with special needs and asked that any resident who would need to arrange for access to contact them ahead of time.

To make arrangements for access, residents can speak to the inspector on-site, or call Melissa Rubin at PWSA Monday-Friday 8:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. at 412.255.0787.  For emergencies, residents should call PWSA Dispatch 24/7 at 412.255.2429 or 412.255.2409.

For the most part, there won’t be water shut-offs until the end of each phase, as the new lines are tied in  PWSA said that residents will receive advance notice of water shut-offs via door hang tags.

This will be a disruption for the neighborhood; the bus will be rerouted (probably just to Brereton), parking will be more problematic and businesses might be affected.  But the work needs to be done.  Based on the number of repairs to water lines in this area, Dobson Street had been identified as the next priority in our neighborhood.  PWSA said they would keep us informed about the work, so we’ll get the word out with any new information.