Jan 5, 2018 By Harry Funk staff Writer hfunk@thealmanac.Net 2 min read

The intersection of Couch Farm and Valleyview roads in Mt. Lebanon’s Virginia Manor neighborhood could pose some safety issues.

“I don’t know of any accidents,” said Anne Clark, who lives on Valleyview. “I’ve almost been hit twice in my car there.”

She brought the concerns of herself and other nearby residents to the Mt. Lebanon Traffic Board, which as part of its mission receives and investigates requests pertaining to traffic and parking. Clark’s request is for a stop sign at the point where vehicles traveling north on Couch Farm reach Valleyview.

“A lot of kids walk down there to go to school and come back every day,” she told board members at their Jan. 3 meeting. “Traffic moves fast coming up the hill.”

The intersection already has three stop signs, two of which control Valleyview Road traffic approaching from the west and east. The latter is joined on a traffic island by the third sign, halting southbound vehicles that bear left before turning east onto Valleyview, toward Cochran Road.

Southbound traffic bearing to the left of the island, though, continues straight onto Couch Farm Road without a stop sign.

Vehicles that approach from the east have sight limitations, Clark said.

“Just the way the curve of the road is, you can’t really see the cars coming up the hill when you have a stop sign at that triangle intersection,” she told the board.

Further complicating the situation, she said, are bushes and other decorative plants in the traffic island that can obscure vision, especially during summer.

Lt. Mark Rayburg, who heads the Mt. Lebanon Police Department Traffic Services Unit, said he would check on whether the municipality can help resolve the issue by removing the vegetation.

Regarding the request for a stop sign, Rayburg said that traffic engineer Michael Haberman of Gateway Engineers, who was not present for the Jan. 3 meeting, can provide more details next month about the necessary criteria.

“According to Pennsylvania law, you have to have certain warrants in order to establish a stop sign somewhere,” Rayburg said. “That’s based on a crash history within so many years, and also site distance.”