Mt. Lebanon resident requests crosswalk improvements
The crosswalk on Gilkeson Road presents a challenge for pedestrians.
Mt. Lebanon’s heavily traveled Gilkeson Road can be a daunting proposition for motorists, let alone pedestrians.
“It’s a very dangerous road to cross, especially during the busier times of the day,” Shawn Heltman said. “I would like to see that made a bit safer. You have to sprint sometimes to get across the road.”
The Gilkeson Road resident addressed the Mt. Lebanon Traffic Board on March 2 about possible improvements to the crosswalk in the 200 block of the thoroughfare, perhaps to coincide with a Pennsylvania Department of Transportation resurfacing project scheduled for this year.
Signs to the east and west of the crosswalk indicate its presence, but the markings on the roadway have faded considerably.
The crossing is placed where a sidewalk to the south of Gilkeson ends, connecting pedestrians to a walkway on the other side of the street. Two bus stops are nearby.
One issue is that the crosswalk is in-block, instead of at an intersection, and PennDOT might prefer its elimination. Michael Haberman, traffic engineer with Gateway Engineers, cited a similar situation on Mt. Lebanon Boulevard last year, in which the department provided justification to remove a crosswalk.
“We wrote a letter saying that we wanted to keep it, and they’re removing it. I don’t know if the same thing is going to happen here,” Haberman said about Gilkeson Road.
Traffic board members plan further discussion next month.
Also involving Gilkeson, Heltman requested that Mt. Lebanon officials look into prohibiting the use of brake retarders and placing the applicable signage along the road.
According to state law, a municipality requires written approval from PennDOT to take such a measure. Certain criteria also must be met, including one addressing grade.
“There can be no 500-foot section where the grade of the road is greater than 4 percent,” which might preclude Gilkeson, Haberman said.
In other traffic board business:
• Haberman recommended that no changes be made to the intersection of Cedar Boulevard and Washington Road.
A discussion in February focused on the safety of pedestrians crossing Washington on the south side of the intersection, as sun glare could be an issue for motorists turning right from Cedar.
According to Haberman, data compiled over the past 37 months show five reportable accidents, involving an injury or the towing of a vehicle, and 10 non-reportable incidents.
“Some change or mitigation to an intersection would be warranted if you have five or more reportable crashes over a 12-month period of the exact same type,” he said. “We didn’t see any pattern at this intersection of any kind, based on that data.”
• Placement of a stop sign on Fruithurst Drive at Parkside Avenue looks to go to the Mt. Lebanon Commission for consideration.
The traffic board recommended the measure in May 2014, but the item did not make it to the commission’s agenda.
Parkside resident David Wargo originally requested the stop sign at the uncontrolled “T” intersection.
“There does seem to be a lot of confusion sometimes about right of way,” he told the board.
• Citing construction nearby, a resident suggested augmenting traffic controls at Summit and Country Club drives.
“I don’t know if we should put stop signs there,” Stephen Laskovich of McNeilly Road said, “or if we should put something in the order of a sign that says opposing traffic does not stop.”
More vehicles have been using the intersection because of construction on a small residential development, Summit Pointe Plan of Lots No. 2, which partially is in Baldwin Township.