Cresheim Valley part of FEMA inspection

Damage evaluated during area tour, but federal aid is not guaranteed

by DENISE MAHER

Members of the Pennsylvania office of the Federal Emergency Management Agency took their first tour of the grim partial collapse of Cresheim Valley Drive last week, the first step in ascertaining whether federal monies can be secured to fund the rebuilding efforts for the popular roadway.

The funding could take weeks or, in the worst-case scenario, months to come through, according to city surveyor and engineer Joseph Syrnick, because “a lot of the programs are federal programs,” which are also funding the disaster relief efforts in Florida.

FEMA approved emergency funding for Chester, Delaware, Montgomery and Philadelphia counties Oct. 13, but at this point only individual property owners, not municipalities, are guaranteed to get aid, said Susan Greatorex, a spokesperson for FEMA’s field office in Harrisburg.

“The public assistance program that would affect municipal roads has not been turned on for this disaster,” she said. She said that she did not know when a decision would be made on implementing that program.

With federal funding still uncertain, officials are preparing for the worst-case scenario. A street resurfacing project that is expected to begin in the summer would take on the task of rebuilding Cresheim Valley if monies have not been granted by the intended start-up date.

The plan is “to get it open as soon as possible,” according to Cindy Bass, senior policy advisor for state legislator Chaka Fattah.

During a tour of the Philadelphia area on Oct. 12, FEMA representatives visited the collapsed site with members of the Streets Department and Fairmount Park Commission.

A hole over 12 feet long is a startling reminder of how much more damage could come with another rainfall. Spare white sandbags grace the edge of the collapsed area, a small effort to protect the worst affected area from further erosion.

“Everybody’s holding their breath,” with each coming storm, Syrnick said.

“What a mess this is,” Frank Galioto, director of constituent services for city councilman Frank Rizzo Jr., said at first sight of the collapse. It’s a sentiment echoed by many who see the damage in an area used to smaller streets problems.

Madeleine Antinucci of the Philadelphia Streets Department, who was on site for the FEMA tour, said she isn’t used to dealing with projects this large.

“I usually just maintain the streets,” she said. Antinucci helped describe some of the more minor road damages to FEMA officials, such as damage to the sides and curb of the road, including pavers and blacktop that have either been severely water damaged or have been completely washed away.

Cresheim Valley Drive was first closed to vehicular traffic after an Aug. 1 storm undermined the edge of the road above Cresheim Creek, causing cracks and depressions in the roadway. Before the road’s collapse, caused by torrential rains from the remnants of hurricane Jeanne on Sept. 28, a plan was in the works to reopen the road to one lane of traffic while a stone slope was installed to prevent further erosion.

Unfortunately, according to Antinucci, those plans have had to be scrapped and the roadway must be redesigned by structural engineers. Bass said those plans can be drawn up in two weeks or less, and will not lead to a longer delay of the roadway’s reopening once money is allocated for the project.

City officials hope that FEMA estimates are reported soon so that the project will not have to wait until next summer.

“Northwest Philadelphia is basically landlocked right now,” Bass said. Partial or full closures of major local arteries, including Cresheim Valley Drive, 20th Street by La Salle University in Olney and Johnson Street in Germantown have forced locals and commuters to reroute their drives through residential streets, causing traffic problems throughout Chestnut Hill and Mt. Airy.

This section of the city “has suffered a number of blows,” Bass said.

FEMA’s secretive process of assessing damages utilizes measuring tapes and calculators, spread sheets and SUVs, but the word back will be much more simple, many city officials believe.

“We can’t see how they won’t fund it,” Bass said.

The estimated $1 million project includes both materials and labor for repairing the roadway.

Patience is key to surviving the next few months driving around Northwest Philadelphia, and the shockwave effects are being felt not only by neighbors, but by officials who aren’t used to roadway damages this extensive.

Let’s just say, “It’s not a good year to be a highway engineer,” Syrnick said.

Editor James Sturdivant contributed to this story.