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Upper St. Clair and the Port Authority of Allegheny County are close to an agreement about transferring property that would aid in the building of a new station for the Upper St. Clair Volunteer Fire Department.

Upper St. Clair commissioners are expected to authorize the transfer of 2.12 acres of property on McMurray Road near the now-unused Drake Loop trolley line to the Port Authority at a meeting Monday. In exchange, the Port Authority will transfer 3.44 acres on Route 19 near the current volunteer fire station.

The property on Route 19 is being used as a parking lot. The fire department plans to raze its station and build a new one on the proposed site. Due to the price differential in the assessed value of the properties involved, the township also will pay the Port Authority $298,000.

"We have an agreement in principle on this issue," Port Authority spokesman Bob Grove said.

Township Manager Doug Watkins said he also expects Port Authority officials to authorize this transfer at their next board meeting April 23.

The Port Authority hopes to use the McMurray Road land for a park-and-ride lot if the Drake Line is rehabilitated. Service stopped in September 1999 for the 1 1/2-mile line, which had decreasing ridership and needed to be modernized.

Port Authority spokeswoman Judi McNeil said the fate of the Drake Line's repairs is uncertain.

It originally was part of the authority's Stage II light-rail rehabilitation plans, but they were unable to secure funding for the line from the Federal Highway Administration, she said.

"It's still a project in the pipeline," McNeil said. "We don't have any funding for it at this time."

Staff writer Erik Siemers contributed to this article.

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