Troubled intersection may soon become a roundabout

KENNETT TOWNSHIP » Someday, Kennett Township’s notorious Five Points intersection may be a lot easier to get around.

That’s because Township Manager Lisa Moore says that after many months of meetings with PennDOT officials and the township’s traffic engineers on how to ease chronic congestion at the five-way intersection south of Kennett Square, the idea of creating a roundabout there has emerged as a strong contender for the favorite solution.

There are only three roundabouts in Chester County: one at Doe Run Road and Route 82; one at Strasburg, Shadyside and Romansville roads; and the latest near Pocopson Home off Route 52.

Roundabouts, according to PennDOT, offer improved safety over other forms of intersections and typically carry about 30 percent more vehicles than similarly sized intersections during peak travel times. Roundabouts also improve pedestrian safety by allowing pedestrians to cross a single lane of slow, one-way traffic at a time.

Moore said the engineers would present an animated computer simulation of how the roundabout would work at the township supervisors’ next public meeting, 7 p.m. Feb. 7 at the township building.

PennDOT has a great deal of influence over the situation, Moore said, because two of the roads involved belong to the state and the agency would decide what solutions it would be willing to fund. And the roundabout seems to be the only solution PennDOT considers workable, Moore said.

Moore told the attendees at the supervisors’ regular meeting Wednesday night that township officials had already met to discuss the option with property owners who would be affected. The next steps would be for supervisors to decide whether to pursue the

grants involved.

Obtaining funding, planning, and construction all together would take about three years before the project was finished. The actual construction would take about nine months, Moore said. The intersection would not be completely closed, but it would disrupt travel in the area.

“It will cause inconveniences for everyone,” Moore said. “But after nine months, it’ll be great.”

In other business, the supervisors discussed problems with noise complaints and other violations at construction projects. They said recently they had calls from residents about construction at times when such work was not allowed, such as on holidays.

Township Police Chief Lydell Nolt said officers who investigated the complaints had to use their discretion, because often while the projects’ top managers wanted to comply, the word had not gotten to all the subcontractors who might be ones on the site actually creating the nuisance.

Scudder Stevens, chair of the board of supervisors, said he understood and was glad the police were using their judgment. But he said he wanted notes of the discussion sent to the building project managers so they would be aware that further violations would trigger citations and fines.

Roadmaster Roger Lysle said the public works crews clearing the snow during recent storms had trouble navigating around trash receptacles sitting partly in the roadway and with

roadside mailboxes that had their doors open. He asked residents to make sure the receptacles were pulled back from the road, and that mailboxes were shut.

Supervisor Richard Leff said he’d responded to an invitation from a group that wanted to form a consortium of Chester County municipalities to support efforts to reach 100 percent renewable energy use by 2050. He said he wanted to let the other supervisors know because if the township got involved, the group would need some funding over the next few years.

Leff said with the cost of renewable energy going down, it was worthwhile to investigate using it more broadly. Kennett Township residents, while spread out more than city dwellers, used more energy per capita, he pointed out. He added that group buying power across the county would be an advantage going forward.

Stevens said in the absence of action on climate change at the national level, it was important for state and local officials to do what they could.

Moore noted that the township had received contracts from the state for rehabbing the Chandler Mill Bridge and constructing a trail along Chandler Mill Road. Construction could start in April, she said.

Nolt said the incidence of serious crimes in the township had decreased by 19 percent in 2017 over the year before. He said he believed this was due to the increase in police presence.