Originally Published: 31 MAY 25 14:08 ET

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    PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- Call him a pothole politician or a local lawmaker standing on principle. On Thursday, a state representative stood in a hole for more than five hours, trying to force construction crews to call 911 and alert city officials.

He said it was all because of a paving mishap.

State rep wants road paved

Forget the yellow safety vest or the hard hat. Rep. Joe McAndrew is donning a shirt and tie, trying to prove a point.

McAndrew says the city of Pittsburgh agreed to pave Verona Boulevard from Lincoln Avenue to the Penn Hills border. But when he stopped by the project, he said he noticed the hired paving crew stopped short, failing to honor the agreement between his office and city leaders.

So, he did what felt right, planting his dress shoes in the unpaved hole.

"The city of Pittsburgh officials continued to ignore my pleas to have the road continued to be paved to the Penn Hills border to the point where I ended up having to go into the way of the construction vehicles to have the city of Pittsburgh officials come and speak to me about this issue and this mishap," he said.

Crews stop work

His performance worked. It forced the crews to stop. Police officers started showing up, and he says the city caught wind.

"They have communicated to me that they were in error on where they were stopping this road today and over the next several weeks, they do plan to finish this road in its entirety," McAndrew said.

That means the long-neglected stretch between Penn Hills and the city, from Mt. Carmel Road to Lincoln Avenue, will soon see fresh blacktop.

"But it took me getting into a hole and having this argument with them in order to get it done for the people of our community and for the people of Lincoln Park and for the people of Penn Hills," McAndrew said.

Olga George, press secretary for the mayor's office, said there appeared to be some "miscommunication" about the project.

"While the scope of repaving has now been resolved, additional Council approval is required to complete the repaving of a portion of the road which is currently paved in brick," George's statement said.

Work has been stopped to allow the city to get the council's approval to replace the brick portion of the street, allowing the project "to move forward in a complete and coordinated manner, rather than in two separate phases."

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