Parts of trail and crosswalk project ready to be bid

Project would add connections between Frick’s Meetinghouse, School Road Park

A long-discussed trail project in Hatfield could start moving ahead later this month.

Township staff members are preparing to bid out three components of the Frick’s Trail project, which Township Manager Aaron Bibro said will add a mile of trail connections for walkers and bikers at minimal cost to township taxpayers.

“There will not be one penny of taxpayer money spent on this entire project,” Bibro said.

Starting in late 2015 the township has discussed a project meant to connect the Frick’s Meetinghouse near Line Lexington Road with School Road Park, via a pedestrian crossing at Orvilla Road, and a trail extension running along the southern side of a property owned by Keystone Fellowship between Orvilla and Sterling Drive.

Last summer, township officials announced a $100,000 grant had been secured from Montgomery County under its Montco 2040 grant program, and Bibro gave an update Wednesday on three components of that project that are now ready to go out to bid.

At Orvilla Road south of Independence Way, a new crosswalk will be built that Bibro said will likely feature neon “pedestrian crossing” signs, signs warning drivers to yield to pedestrians, road striping, and flashing lights meant to slow down drivers on the busy road.

“One of the issues that came up when we had town hall meetings (on the project) was safety. Obviously, safety is our number one concern,” Bibro said.

Once a trail user crosses Orvilla heading west, the trail will run along the southern edge of the Keystone property to Sterling Drive, which will then run south to North Penn Road. Along that stretch of North Penn Road, according to Bibro, the roadway is wide enough for walkers or bikers, but has no indicators warning drivers to watch for them, so the second portion of the project would add a dedicated lane with striping and symbols indicating it should not be used by cars.

“It’s a very wide road, it’s a very safe route, but at this point, it isn’t delineated for walkers or bikers,” Bibro said, so adding the dedicated trail lane “will just make it even more safe than it currently is.”

That striping will be added to North Penn Road between Stirling Drive and Bronze Drive, according to Bibro, then run south along Bronze Drive toward School Road. The third component of the trail project that will be bid out this month would occur another block south, where an already existing stretch of trail running through woods south of the Hatfield Aquatic Center meets Maple Avenue, on an east-west stretch where Maple has no sidewalks.

“I wouldn’t call it an unsafe condition. It’s not ideal, and we’re going to make it ideal,” Bibro said.

A small bridge on Maple Avenue just east of Hatfield Village Road will be widened to add sidewalks, and as Bibro showed photos of that stretch, he joked that only the curb is wide enough to stand on without being in the road.

“You won’t have to do what I do, which is tiptoe onto the curb and fall onto Maple Avenue while everyone’s watching, which I’ve done a few times,” he said.

All three components will be bid together before the board’s April 26 meeting, and Bibro said at that meeting he will report back on the results and potential pricing. If the $100,000 county grant is exceed, the remainder could be covered by township reserves from developer and private contributions and fees from township financing authorities.

Board President Tom Zipfel said he thought the project would greatly increase possibly unsafe conditions now, but asked staff to consider adding extra signage where pedestrians, or drivers, may be distracted by their devices.

“The thing I’m concerned about is people on their phones. They think ‘OK, this is a pedestrian walkway, everyone will be mindful of the fact that I can cross here,’ and the truth is that’s, unfortunately, just not true,” Zipfel said.

More information on the trail project will be available at the board’s April 26 meeting, which will be held at 7:30 p.m. at the township administration building, 1950 School Road.

Several other items will Hatfield Township staff have proposed the following list of roads to be paved, during the summer of 2017: Cambridge Circle Fischer Road Hertford Drive Jean Drive Kohlman Circle Oxford Court Providence Lane Stratford Avenue Supplee Circle Towamencin Avenue Wellington Way Bids on the 2017 road program will be discussed and awarded at the commissioners’ April 26 meeting.

also be up for approval during the April 26 meeting, including a payment for work done on the Walnut Street Bridge, and a bid award for the township’s 2017 road paving program. According to Bibro, staff have identified 11 roads in line for paving this year, and curb ramps on the selected roads will also be upgraded as part of the paving projects.

The commissioners unanimously approved on April 12 a real estate tax appeal settlement for the Snyder Square Shopping Center. According to township Solicitor Christen Pionzio, the settlement agreement was initiated by the North Penn School District, and resulted in a payment of $146,611 to the township for unpaid taxes from 2011 through 2016, and will result in roughly $30,000 in additional taxes paid for subsequent years.