Tarentum's spray park is a popular spot for families to visit and cool off, but local leaders said it has been the scene of multiple crashes, which is why they're taking action to improve safety.

On a hot summer day, you may find Lisa Sobek and her daughter at the spray park at Riverview Memorial Park.

"My daughter absolutely loves it," Sobek said. "It's super fun and exciting for the children."

Throughout the summer, the place can be packed with kids running through the water. But it's next to a busy corridor for trucks and tractor-trailers on First Avenue.

Families, along with borough leaders like Mayor Bob Lang, have been concerned about the traffic, and the three or four crashes that have happened there in recent years, the worst this past spring, forcing the borough to delay opening the spray park for a week.

"Mostly not paying attention, and we had a few DUIs," Lang said.

Lang said these incidents caused severe damage to the fence surrounding the park, and they had to replace it each time, which is expensive. Thankfully, no one was in the park when the crashes occurred, but they fear the possibility.

"I've got grandkids, I don't want anybody's kid to get hit by a car," Lang said.

To try to prevent that, the borough plans to install more bollard posts from the spray park to the end of the playground by Allegheny Street.

"They're going to be three feet apart, and they're going to be behind the fence," Lang said.

The borough also plans on making updates to the security cameras. It is currently working with a contractor, and construction should start soon.

"It would be unthinkably tragic if something happened to the children," Sobek said.

After seeing the hole in the fence this spring, Sobek is relieved to learn about these upgrades.

"Children are so valuable, they're so worth that kind of investment to be protected," Sobek said.

The project is expected to be done by the end of the year.

• Allegheny County