Residents concerned about deteriorating road in Spring Hill

PITTSBURGH — Gershon Street has been slowly deteriorating after a landslide in 2018, neighbors have been trapped ever since.

“The fact that I’ve received radio silence as a tax-paying city resident who pays my property taxes just feels super insulting,” said an anonymous neighbor.

The neighbor on Gershon Street wanted to keep her identity concealed for fear of backlash. She cares for her elderly neighbor who is in her same situation.

“We have built alternate paths ourselves to get up to a different road,” said the neighbor. “There is no access to my house.”

Katie Meier has moved off the street and has since reached out to Channel 11 because of the living situation.

“I think the city just doesn’t care. Spring Hill is a poor area. There [are] not very many people on the street but they all own their houses, so they should care,” said Meier

They’ve had to build mailboxes with fake addresses to get mail. They’ve lived without power for weeks because the poles are on Gershon Street and utility crews can’t get to them. When there is an issue with a water pipe, she says the city has had to deliver bottles of water for weeks to her house. Not to mention living with the constant fear of another landslide.

“My house is continuing to deteriorate. I’m on an unstable hillside that I can’t reinforce because we can’t get any machinery or equipment down the road to my house,” said the neighbor. “My neighbors and I were all eligible for lead waterline replacements many years ago and we were just informed that while we were eligible for that to happen for free, they were unable to do it until the city redid the road.”

She, along with her neighbor and Channel 11, have reached out to Councilman Bobby Wilson, and the mayor’s office for comment.

“In 2022, 2023, and 2025, I made budget requests along with DOMI, who made a request as well, and whenever the mayor went over the budget for those years, it didn’t get approved in the budget,” said Wilson

At this point, she said selling her property is not even an option: “The least the city could do is buy me out if they are going to be this negligent with basic things that should be provided to residents who pay taxes.”

She has also explored different groups that buy houses for cash in various conditions…even though they will not give her an offer due to the conditions on Gershon Street.

The mayor’s office hasn’t responded to our questions at this time.

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