Not the South Fayette of old: A waiting game
A simple trip to a grocery store, restaurant or whatever the destination – driving from the Interstate 79 interchange at Bridgeville where Route 50 and Washington Pike intersect – no longer is simple.
Rather than a convenient commute, which residents grew accustomed to prior to the growth of South Fayette Township and Bridgeville, it has turned into chore to endure stoplights and brake lights.
Peaks in the morning and afternoon hours have given way to car horns and frustrated travelers; a calming in traffic that rarely seems to cease throughout the day and night.
“As we continue to grow there is going to be more and more traffic,” South Fayette Township manager Ryan Eggleston said. “It’s a realistic expectation you are always going to have traffic, especially at those peak times. Developers want to be near the traffic because it drives them to say, ‘I want to sell something here.'”
In an attempt to alleviate the problem for residents spending long periods in traffic while traveling only a few miles, South Fayette and bordering municipalities affected by the influx have created a Traffic Task Force.
The task force, including the municipalities of South Fayette, Upper St. Clair and Collier townships and Allegheny County officials, will work with the state Department of Transportation on creating a comprehensive road improvement plan specially aimed for easing traffic flow at the popular Route 50 and Washington Pike intersection. The intersection now endures approximately 25,000 cars per day; a number that increased from 21,000 calculated in a 2010 report.
“Nobody denies that there is a big traffic problem,” said Mike Benton, South Fayette’s township engineer and zoning officer.
Recognizing the problem and doing something about it are two different things; a frustration from residents that municipal officials in South Fayette recognize and continue to try and fix.
“We hear a lot of concerns from residents about the Interstate 79 area,” community development director Andrea Iglar said.
South Fayette was recently awarded a Green Light-Go grant for $381,391 to help upgrade and install adaptive traffic signals to improve traffic flow and congestion.
“These adaptive systems are the latest technology that continues to be more computerized,” Benton said. “The systems are constantly sensing where the traffic is, unlike our older system. They will constantly evaluate its signal and work with other signals.”
Another PennDOT project is widening the northbound lanes on Washington Pike, creating a second left turning lane that leads to either direction on I-79 or eventually into Cecil. Both of the projects are expected to be implemented by next spring or summer.
The biggest endeavor for the task force is the widening of the bridge over Chartiers Creek on Washington Pike that leads into and out of Bridgeville.
“The linchpin is the replacement of that bridge,” Eggleston said.
That work could cost between $4 million and $6 million, he said.
“We are trying to identify funding for that, but it’s not simple,” he said.
Complexity also occurs because one side of the bridge is owned by Bridgeville, the opposite side is owned by South Fayette, and the bridge, itself, is owned by PennDOT. Ideally, the task force is hoping to increase the bridge to seven lanes.
“The cooperation has been excellent and we’re working collectively on a long-term solution,” Eggleston said. “We are trying to make it better. It’s something we have a vested interest in, but it takes time and money.”