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Residents of Andover Terrace in the city’s Hill District neighborhood are reaching for answers after part of the road collapsed in 2022 – and won’t be fixed until 2026 at the earliest.
“It’s terrible. It’s depressing,” said Marcia Schutz, a homeowner on Andover. “The whole thing is completely frustrating.”
One side of Andover Terrace, 15 turn-of-the-century homes sit atop a steep hill. On the other side, the hill slopes down, offering a sweeping view of the city’s Oakland neighborhood. But the road collapse in 2022 threw the street into chaos, and, residents say, made access in general more cumbersome.
At least one of the homes on Schenley Farms Terrace, the parallel street down the hill from Andover, was condemned by the city, court documents from a lawsuit show. Two other homes on Andover are inaccessible due to the landslide and do not appear to be occupied.
The city’s goal is to have the road restored by the end of 2026, said Jacob Williams, press officer for Pittsburgh’s Department of Mobility and Infrastructure.
The cause of the landslide remains under investigation, he said. He did not address questions regarding the estimated cost of the project to date.
City Councilman R. Daniel Lavelle, whose District 6 includes Andover Terrace, said “residents are understandably frustrated, having dealt with the impact of this issue for over three years.”
In a written statement, Mayor Ed Gainey reinforced comments made by the Department of Mobility and Infrastructure regarding the timeline for the collapse and projected completion for repairs.
The city blocked access to Andover Terrace from Bryn Mawr Road in March of 2022 after "landslide activity was detected, prompting an immediate response,” Williams said in an email.
Schutz said she noticed trouble as early as 2017, saying she spotted a hole under the street by looking over the barrier wall.
She said she reported it to the city’s non-emergency 311 line, but she does not know if anyone responded to initial reports.
Since the closure, residents must walk, bike or drive up to an extra half mile to leave or get to Andover Terrace. Delivery trucks and emergency vehicles have trouble leaving the narrow road, forced to back into someone’s driveway, Schutz said.
After the landslide activity, the city removed the top portion of the road’s retaining wall to reduce the weight placed on the hillside, Williams said.
A city engineering consultant finalized plans in March 2022 — the same month the city closed a portion of the road — to stabilize the hillside and the road, including the installation of soil nails and micropiles, foundational poles drilled deep into the ground.
However, they did not begin work until early 2023, when they had access easements from homeowners, Williams said. Most of the work was completed by summer 2024 but stopped because the contract with the on-call consultant expired, Williams said.
The final phase of the design work is set to begin this winter, and city officials hope that the road can reopen at the end of next year, Williams said.
Landslides are not uncommon in Southwestern Pennsylvania. Allegheny County records show more than 200 landslides reported through 911 or by public works.
The region has a landscape prone to such calamities.
The Monongahela River, which meets with the Allegheny River in Downtown Pittsburgh to form the Ohio, is reportedly a native American word which could be translated to “many landslides” or “places of caving or falling banks.”
Schutz and some other residents continue to press city officials for answers regarding when the project will be completed, the cause, and the costs, as well as concerns about reduced access to their street, according to information provided to Next Generation Newsroom.
Schutz said a fire that began in her backyard shed last June resulted in the loss of an urn containing her father’s ashes as well as damage to the house.
She rushed outside and attempted to battle the flames with a garden hose while she waited for the fire department.
“I’ll never forget the roaring,” Schutz said.
Schutz also lost equipment used for housing bee colonies — beekeeping was a hobby both she and father did. She worried that the emergency response was slowed by the restricted access to Andover Terrace.
Officials are not aware of any cases where the closure has affected response time, said Eliza Durham, media coordinator for Pittsburgh’s Department of Public Safety. Pittsburgh Police and Emergency Medical Services haven’t reported any increase in response times in the area, she said.
