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The Oakmont Boulevard Project is working with the borough to fund a project to replace all of the old gas lamp posts in town and update them with new LED lights. As a result, the Hometown Heroes Banner Program, which was coordinated by the Oakmont Chamber of Commerce, will be going on pause until the lamp project is completed.

The Hometown Heroes highlighted the military service both past and present of residents in the town by hanging banners featuring photos of different residents in their military uniforms in order to commemorate and thank the residents for their service.

In the meantime, however, the Chamber of Commerce is replacing the Heroes banners with seasonal banners, but they plan on bringing back the Heroes program once the lamp replacement project is expected to be completed later this year.

“I’ve gotten so much positive feedback on the Hometown Heroes Program, I definitely don’t want to cancel it permanently,” said chamber director Karen DeTurck.

But the exact time frame for its return depends on the length of the project, which is currently in the bid phase after being approved for a $150,000 grant from the Commonwealth Multimodal Transportation Fund.

The grant award stipulated that Oakmont Borough had to contribute at least 30 percent of the total project estimate. According to chair of the Oakmont Boulevard Project Committee Joanne Anderson, the borough will be pitching in more than its required percentage, and any shortfall will be made up through fundraisers.

This was the third application for grant approval, as the sides have been working for a while now to replace the outdated and broken lamps throughout town. The lights on the new Hulton Bridge were switched to modern LEDs when the new bridge was constructed in 2018-2019, and then PennDOT replaced several lamps on its own funding from Riverview High School up to Allegheny River Boulevard as a test to gauge how much an entire project would cost.

However, in the long run, the project will actually save money for the community. The gas lamps were becoming increasingly more expensive to maintain and repair, not to mention fuel.

“With the technology of LED lighting over the last few years, it would be a significant saving for the borough in the long run,” Anderson said. “The gas lamps have more complex internal mechanisms, they’re difficult to fix and it’s hard to obtain new parts.”

In addition, the project will also help beautify the community’s business district, which is something that’s always been important for the Oakmont Boulevard Project. Founded in 1989, the organization helps to maintain the walking trail through the center of town, the pavilion/train station and the clock tower, along with both entrances into town and the section of Hulton Road between the bridge and Allegheny River Boulevard. It also focuses on public safety, particularly along the railroad tracks on along the thoroughfares through town.

“This is an important feature for safety in town and also for the business community to make everything look good,” Anderson said.

Darren Yuvan is a Trib Total Media contributing writer.

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