Upper Burrell awarded $180,000 grant to fix 2 of 7 landslides on Lower Drennen Road

Upper Burrell is getting closer to fixing two of the seven landslides affecting Lower Drennen Road.

The township was approved for a federal grant of more than $180,000 through U.S. Sen. Bob Casey’s office.

But the award doesn’t mean work will start right away. The township, according to supervisors Chairman Ross Walker, has to come up with a 25% match for the grant, or about $61,000. To that end, the township applied for state grants to cover its share of the federal money.

Six of the seven slides have caused the township to reduce sections of the road to single-lane traffic.

The series of small slides are caused by the presence of clay under the soil that makes the areas, particularly along the road, vulnerable to landslides, said the township’s engineers at Bankson Engineers Inc.

The slides have occurred at different times. Heavy rains in 2019 made the slides worse, the engineers said.

Although the Lower Drennen Road area is sparsely populated, the township still has to keep it open for emergency services for residents and motorists, Walker said.

The grant money will fix two of the worst slides, he said.

“We’re happy to get the grant money, and we’re going to need more,” Walker said.

The township can’t afford the entire project because the cost — estimated at about $400,000 — is greater than the township’s entire road budget for the year, Walker said.

The township’s recent grant of nearly $180,000 from State Appropriation Funding through Casey’s office in fiscal year 2022 will cover 75% of the repair cost for two landslides, said Michael S. Moore of Bankson Engineers.

The township applied for a grant to cover its share of the cost from the Statewide Local Share Account (LSA), which is supported by gaming revenues in the state.

“The township is waiting for the LSA approval,” Moore said. “At this point, we do not know if and when that will happen, so the schedule is still up in the air.”

As for the five other slides along Lower Drennen, the township has submitted three funding requests through Casey’s office for fiscal year 2023, Moore said.