Plans proceed for new road through former Peters Township country club

Part of Center Church Road will shut down temporarily in the summer in conjunction with work on a new road through the former Rolling Hills Country Club property in Peters Township.
“We’re thinking July is the time frame to do this,” said Mark Zemaitis, township director of engineering. “I don’t think it will take very long, but it certainly will be a few weeks that the road is closed.”
During the annual workshop for township council and school board members held Feb. 4, Zemaitis provided updated information about construction of the new Rolling Hills Drive, which has a cost of between $3 million and $3.5 million.
The street will connect Center Church and East McMurray roads through the land on which the country club operated for nearly 70 years. The property has been divided evenly between Peters Township School District, which is in the process of constructing a new high school, and the municipality for use as a public park.
Work on the new road is taking place in two phases, addressing each of the intersections with the existing streets.
The first phase includes eliminating a sharp curve on Center Church Road to create a more driver-friendly straightaway. The intersection with Rolling Hills features three stop signs plus a right-turn lane with a yield sign for eastbound traffic.
Zemaitis said the schedule calls for advertising for bids in March and council awarding a contract in late May, “which would put us in position to pave this fall.”
The second phase involves building a new section of East McMurray Road slightly to the north of the existing portion, with a traffic signal at Rolling Hills Drive. The remaining part will be reconfigured with cul de sacs at either end, with the intent of continuing to provide access to residents’ driveways during heavy traffic.
Eighteen homes are affected, and so far the township has received 16 signatures to proceed, Zemaitis said.
Moving forward with the project also requires permits from the state Department of Transportation and Department of Environmental Protection, the latter because of plans to relocate a stream that is covered for several hundred feet by what used to be a golf course.
“We’re opening it back up,” Zemaitis said. “We’re making it more environmentally friendly. So we’re hoping they see the wisdom in that and the permitting process won’t be so painful.”
He said the hope is to have the permitting in place by the end of 2019, which would allow advertisement for bids in the winter and completion of the project next year.