Peters Township officials express preferences for intersection improvements
The point where East McMurray, Bebout and Thompsonville roads meet has a place in Peters Township history as the first non-Route 19 intersection to be signalized.
With traffic increasing as a result of local development over the ensuing decades, the intersection is the focus of a Pennsylvania Department of Transportation improvement project, with the schedule calling for construction to start in the fall of 2022.
One of three alternatives presented by the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation for the intersection of Bebout, East McMurray and Thompsonville roads
The preference of Peters officials, as discussed at Monday’s township council meeting, is a design alternative calling for the addition of two exclusive turning lanes, left from East McMurray to Bebout and right in the opposite direction.
During a recent stakeholder meeting conducted by PennDOT, three alternatives were presented, one with dedicated turning lanes in all directions and another with extra lines for three out of the four approaches, Thompsonville Road excepted.
The improvement project also addresses Bittersweet Circle, which joins with McMurray Road a short distance north of the signalized intersection and tends to complicate traffic issues in the vicinity, especially when vehicles are making left turns.
PennDOT presented four potential solutions, and township officials favor the option of relocating Bittersweet farther to the north, past what would be the start of East McMurray’s left-turn lane onto Bebout.
Other suggestions including restricting the Bittersweet intersection to right turns in and out, and relocation of the access-egress onto Bebout instead of East McMurray. The fourth alternative is to terminate Bittersweet as a cul-de-sac.
“The effect would be to limit the people on Bittersweet Circle to one way in and one way out, and that certainly isn’t in line with the township’s policy for multiple forms of egress and ingress out of a plan,” township manager Paul Lauer said during the council meeting.
He also read a letter from resident Bob Donnan, a resident of a side street off Thompsonville Road, that was submitted as part of PennDOT’s public engagement effort regarding the project.
Donnan’s preference is for the alternative that adds turning lanes in all directions, plus a third lane at Bebout’s approach. Plus he proposes limiting access to and from Thompsonville for a gas station-convenience store at the intersection.
“If you are traveling east on Thompsonville Road to make the left turn onto East McMurray Road headed north, it can lead to a game of chicken with the fast-moving traffic from Bebout into the intersection, with a bad hilltop sight line adding to that issue,” he wrote.
Along with increasing traffic volume capacity at the intersection, PennDOT’s goal is to improve safety for all modes of transportation, including pedestrians and cyclists, and to meet Americans With Disabilities Act standards.