Road project is a concern

Workers install no parking signs at Third and Locust this afternoon./

Over the last month, if not longer, curbs and sidewalks along the Route 441 corridor have been dug up and repaired. Much of the construction has taken weeks and caused a number of headaches for businesses along the area.

The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation hired a sub contractor, McMinn’s Asphalt of Lancaster to replace curbs and sidewalks and repave the road.

The curbs and sidewalks were finally completed Friday.

Monday, traffic problems mounted when McMinn’s started milling the old asphalt in preparation for paving the road through Columbia south to Washington Boro at Route 999.

Heather McDonald, a resident of the 100 block of Locust Street, spoke to the borough council Monday night about traffic problems in her area, along with other issues.

First discussed with the council, were no parking signs placed along the Route 441 area in Columbia, which no one knew about, which wer eventually taken down.

Borough Manager Norm Meiskey agreed the project has been a problem.

“It has been totally disruptive. We taken a lot of complaints and I’ve discussed them with the project manager on a regular basis,” Meiskey said.

“They have been very difficult to deal with,” he said.