W. Penn decides not to widen Blue Mountain Drive

At least for the time being, West Penn Township officials do not plan to widen Blue Mountain Drive to address problems caused by truck traffic.

Township engineer Bill Anders said at Monday morning’s board of supervisors meeting that he contacted the state Department of Transportation concerning a potential improvement to the intersection of Route 309 and Blue Mountain Drive.

Anders said that PennDOT doesn’t require any permit fee if a municipality wants to proceed with the widening of an intersection, but that the plan would need to be sent to them.

He said doing so would likely cost the township between $20,000 to $25,000 in engineering fees.

Anders said his concern is that doing so could make it more of a traffic presence, which would go against what residents want to see.

Board Chairman Tony Prudenti said he would like to see the water trucks taken out to a state road and not use the intersection.

“I think the more prudent idea would be get the trucks off the (township) road totally and use a state road,” Prudenti said.

Supervisor Tim Houser questioned why supervisors were addressing the matter at this point in time when there are other issues — primarily water harvesting — that need to be tended to.

“I think we need to address some of the other problems before we address this,” said Houser, who added that he liked Prudenti’s suggestion about keeping trucks off township roads and on state highways. “Let’s resolve the main issue, and that’s water harvesting.”

Prudenti said he didn’t want to turn it into an “attractive nuisance.”

Resident Ted Rosen said he agreed that the township should know the big picture before the little picture.

Similarly, resident Dave Lapinsky echoed that sentiment.

“I appreciate your decision not to move forward with widening 309,” Lapinsky said.

Earlier this month, Supervisor Ted Bogosh suggested widening Blue Mountain Drive and making three lanes to address problems caused by truck traffic.

Bogosh said at that time residents complained that trucks exiting Blue Mountain Drive south onto Route 309 block the entire road, forcing vehicles on 309 to wait until trucks make the turn, increasing the risk of a rear-end collision on 309.

He said that by increasing Blue Mountain Drive to three lanes at 309, trucks entering onto 309 south would not block the entrance of Blue Mountain Drive from 309, and could enter 309 south without entering the 309 north lane.

Bogosh said the current apron is 62 feet across, and the three lanes (42 feet across) would extend back 100 feet, then merge to two lanes, and the southern lane of Blue Mountain Drive would be restricted of traffic to allow the trailer room for the turn and a 6-foot area between the entrance and exit lane would provide a margin of safety. He added that PennDOT would need to widen the apron.

The land acquisition would be through Curtis Bailey, who has previously agreed to let that happen, Bogosh said.