W. Penn to get costs on widening Blue Mountain Drive

West Penn Township will inquire about the cost to widen Blue Mountain Drive to four lanes to address truck traffic.

On a unanimous vote, supervisors agreed Monday morning to have the township engineer obtain price estimates to potentially widen the highway.

That came after Supervisor Ted Bogosh — who in the fall suggested widening Blue Mountain Drive and making it three lanes — addressed the problems at Blue Mountain Drive and Route 309.

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-feet length along 309 to the north side of Blue Mountain Drive (the downhill side), and cross hatch 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.”

“There haven’t been accidents there, but there have been close calls,” Bogosh said. “There have been a lot of people complaining about it, and there has been no solution (implemented).”

Board Chairman Tony Prudenti said he agreed with Bogosh.

“I think something needs to be done,” Prudenti said. “The reason we’re having this done primarily is the truck traffic.”

Supervisor Tim Houser said it couldn’t hurt to move ahead and get some cost estimates.

“I agree with you; it’s a hazardous situation,” Houser said. “I don’t know that widening the intersection will (solve) the problem.”

Prudenti said that in a perfect world, he’d like to get it done this year, but that isn’t realistic.

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

In a separate matter, Bogosh on Monday also discussed the intersection at routes 309 and 443 from Lehighton going south onto 309.

He said that when a long truck or a car with a boat trailer attempts to turn from 443 to go south on 309, they block the entrance to 443 from 309, which could cause a crash at the intersection.

The board agreed to have Bogosh send a letter to PennDOT expressing his concern at that intersection.