The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation is looking to
acquire two residential properties located near the Allegheny River
along U.S. Route 6 in Port Allegany in anticipation of an upcoming
$7.9 million bridge replacement project.

The agency filed a Declaration of Taking last week with the
McKean County Court of Common Pleas in order to condemn the
properties. Officials said after an extensive search, the owners of
the parcels – which are located in Liberty Township – are not
known.

Keystone Acquisition Services Corp. of Pittsburgh is handling
the matter for PennDOT.

“This process of condemnation is nothing unusual,” PennDOT
Community Relations Coordinator Marla Fannin said Tuesday.

According to Fannin, a parcel can have unknown owners for
several reasons. In this case, the parcels apparently border the
river, where property lines can be moved or evolve, in part,
depending on the natural movement of the waterway.

“We have done a pretty extensive search and to our knowledge the
owners are unknown,” Fannin said, adding when that situation
arises, the agency is forced to publish a notice regarding the
proposed condemnation in the media and the parcel is posted.

“If there were known property owners, it then becomes a matter
of negotiation,” Fannin said. “That was not possible in this
case.”

A copy of the condemnation notice obtained through the McKean
County Recorder of Deeds Office seems to indicate that PennDOT will
only be seeking to take a portion of the each of the parcels. Just
how much is needed for the project, however, was not immediately
clear.

Court documents also indicate state officials approved of going
forth with the condemnation on June 28, 2006. The documents also
note that mineral rights on the properties, including for oil and
gas, will have to go through the state.

Anyone with objections has 30 days from the filing of the notice
to declare them.

Fannin said the Route 6 bridge project is one of several PennDOT
will be undertaking across the area in the coming months.

According to Fannin, there are actually two bridge projects
involved – one span goes over railroad tracks and another over the
river. The work will require a local detour.

“It (project) will probably go out for bid sometime in early
March,” Fannin said, adding it will then be two months before the
winning bidder is given a notice to proceed.

The project is listed as lasting from May through December,
according to Fannin.

In addition to the Port Allegany project, Fannin said the agency
will also have crews working on the Potato Creek Bridge, just
outside of Smethport.