W. Penn gains additional right of way to improve safety at intersection

West Penn Township has gained the additional right of way to make the intersection at Blue Mountain Drive and Route 309 as safe as it can for motorists.

Supervisors unanimously agreed on Monday to accept the dedication of the portion of the Dorothy K. Bailey property for additional right of way for Blue Mountain Drive.

After the meeting, board Chairman Tony Prudenti explained the significance of the township obtaining the additional right of way.

“It just gives us a little bit of room to work to try to make that intersection as safe as we can,” Prudenti said. “The next step is to basically come up with a plan of attack that we’ve been working on, and to implement it. Hopefully, we’ll get it done before the end of the year.”

Prudenti said in September that he believes the township needs to square up the side of the intersection, almost making it a safety lane without actually designating it as a safety lane.

Supervisor Tim Houser said at that time they also have to correct the water drainage problem.

Township police Chief Brian Johnson said it’s not always about the trucks, but also the cars that travel on the road.

Supervisor Ted Bogosh said he believes draining the water and fixing the shoulder is the best way to go.

The consensus of the board at that time was that a cost estimate needed to be put together to redo Blue Mountain Drive.

Prudenti said the township received a cost estimate from its roadmaster that came in at a little less than $10,000, less than what was initially expected.

He said to make the intersection safer, the township will have to widen the shoulder on the north side of Blue Mountain Drive so that any truck coming off there would have an area on the north side that they could still drive onto to get off Route 309.

That decision came after the board in July agreed to inquire about the cost to widen Blue Mountain Drive to four lanes to address truck traffic, and at that time, agreed to have the township engineer obtain price estimates to potentially widen the highway.

Bogosh had suggested widening Blue Mountain Drive and making it three lanes.

Bogosh said residents have complained about when vehicles turn off 309 onto Blue Mountain Drive, but are held up on 309 as they wait for trucks to exit south onto 309 because they take up the entire road in order to make the turn.

He then suggested widening Blue Mountain Drive to four lanes for a 100-foot length along 309 to the north side of Blue Mountain Drive (the downhill side), and crosshatch the existing two lanes to allow for trailer swings.

Bogosh said that would also leave a lane open to traffic that enters Blue Mountain Drive, and added that the property owner agreed to the land acquisition in the interest of safety.

In addition, he said the state Department of Transportation would also need to create a left-turn lane on northbound 309 to reduce the possibility of rear-end collisions, which could be done by making the southbound 309 a single lane with no passing until after Blue Mountain Drive.

Bogosh said he’d like to be proactive, “rather than wait for accidents to occur.”

Houser said regardless of the outcome, the board would need to get approval from PennDOT since 309 is a state road.