Peters Township awards contract for Rolling Hills Drive completion
Peters Township Council has awarded a contract for the construction of the second phase of Rolling Hills Drive.
At a cost of $2.38 million, A. Liberoni Inc. of Plum Borough will complete the road that extends through the former Rolling Hills Country Club property, connecting East McMurray and Center Church roads. The same contractor worked on the project’s first phase.
“So from the standpoint of coordination, it makes things a whole lot easier,” township manager Paul Lauer said at council’s March 9 meeting.
Liberoni’s bid was some $683,000 less than the next lowest of five received.
“I believe we have received a bid that is significantly under our budgeted amount for several reasons: Liberoni is familiar with the site conditions, is already mobilized and is familiar with the owner, having successfully completed many major projects for Peters Township in the past,” Mark Zemaitis, director of engineering, wrote in a memo to Lauer.
The cost of Rolling Hills Drive is split between Peters Township School District, which is building a new high school on the property, and the municipality. A township park with a variety of amenities is planned for the eastern side.
Related to the thoroughfare’s construction, council also approved the transfer of 3.126 acres along East McMurray Road to the state Department of Transportation as part of the process for the township to acquire a highway occupancy permit.
“Although we’re not in possession of it, we are making progress. What is left are a number of administrative items,” Lauer reported. “This item, in particular, is some indication that PennDOT has accepted the design that we’re looking at, because they’ve determined exactly what the transfer of the right of way should look like.”
The design calls for part of East McMurray to be relocated to the north of the current configuration. The remaining Old East McMurray Road is to have cul de sacs at either end, a measure intended to allow better vehicular access for residents once the school opens and generates more traffic.
Plans call for a move from the existing high school to the new building in January, following the district’s winter break.
During an early March workshop meeting of council and school board members, a point of discussion was the possibility of a monument-type “gateway” marker at the entrance to the Rolling Hills property.
“Beyond the aesthetics of it, I think you want people to understand they’re entering a special place, and it may cause people to drive through space differently than they might if they simply perceive it to be a public road, which it is,” Lauer said at the March 9 meeting, explaining the cost could be “a few thousand dollars to develop that scheme.”
Council members supported proceeding with the project.
They also discussed perhaps taking measures to mitigate traffic safety issues at Center Church Road’s terminus, where a stop sign halts traffic turning onto Route 19.
“I think making a left-hand turn out of Center Church Road to go south is something that we might want to consider prohibiting,” Lauer told council. As an alternative, vehicles could turn from Center Church onto Wilhaven Road and then left onto Gateshead Drive, which has a signalized intersection with Route 19.
The presence of the new high school could exacerbate the situation.
“You’re going to have 400 parking spaces for high school students. Not all of them are headed that direction on Center Church Road. In fact, I would think the majority are coming back to East McMurray Road,” Lauer said. “But you’re going to have a sizable number of kids every day, and I don’t think you want people making left-hand turns onto Center Church Road.”