Officials to tackle traffic issues

Lane changes, possible widening could help improve traffic flow at turnpike interchange in 2018

With a new direct ramp now open, 2018 could bring new talks on whether to change traffic patterns near the Lansdale interchange to the Northeast Extension of the Pennsylvania Turnpike in Towamencin.

Several changes could be considered to better improve traffic flow and help cut down on traffic stacking that still happens near the interchange, traffic engineer Stephanie Butler of McMahon Associates told the board.

“The ramp from Towamencin Avenue was just recently opened, a few weeks ago, so now we are starting to see the whole operational pattern in the vicinity of the interchange,” she said.

A project to widen 10 miles of the Northeast Extension from Towamencin south was finished over the summer of 2017, and direct ramps from Sumneytown Pike to and from the turnpike were opened in late 2015. The final major component of the project, a direct access ramp from Towamencin Avenue to the interchange, opened in November and could lead to one of the changes Butler said the township should study.

Under the current configuration, when drivers head east on Sumneytown Pike toward the interchange, they have two options: take a direct EZ-pass access ramp to the southbound turnpike, where traffic tends to stack up at rush hour to make a left turn across traffic, or head past the direct ramps to the interchange itself, where two left turn lanes are controlled by a double green signal arrow.

“We have a dual left-turn lane that accesses the interchange, and then the receiving lanes are a dual lane, as well as a yield condition for the right movement” from Towamencin Avenue, Butler told the board during their Dec. 13 meeting.

If the two left-turn lanes from Sumneytown eastbound into the interchange are converted into one lane, and the left arrows are converted into a steady green where drivers can cross ahead of oncoming traffic, drivers could have more chances to cross opposing traffic, and stacking could be reduced, Butler said.

“These are all based on our observations to date, we have no traffic counts or analysis yet. However, just from observation, and routinely going through the interchange, not a lot of vehicles are queued up, using this dual left any longer,” Butler said.

“I think we all know where those vehicles are, but they’re not in those double left turn lanes now. So what we are looking at is, can we reduce the dual left to a single left?” she said.

If those changes are made, a single left lane with no turn arrow could be a faster option for drivers that don’t want to wait for stacked traffic waiting to get onto the direct ramp.

“If people think that they can actually come up to the light, and not wait for a green arrow to make the left turn, we might encourage more people to actually bypass the slip ramp, come up to the old interchange, flow through it, and get into the turnpike,” she said.

With that change made, and the new Towamencin Avenue ramp handling vehicles that want to reach the interchange from the east and north, the right turn from Sumneytown into the interchange that currently yields to the double lanes could also be eliminated, she said.

Another trouble spot is the stretch between Mainland Road and Old Forty Foot Road, where drivers wait to cross Sumneytown before taking the southbound ramp directly to the turnpike.

“People are coming out at Mainland, and not going right-only, which is what they’re supposed to do. They’re trying to get across two lanes and get into that queue, to get into the southbound ramp,” Butler said.

“I saw one the other day, and I thought for sure they were going to get T-boned. He waited, came across, and was so close to getting into an accident, when all he had to do is go right, go up to the interchange, and he would’ve been on the turnpike faster than anybody sitting in that queue.” she said.

In theory, Butler said, the stretch of Sumneytown between Old Forty Foot and Mainland roads could be widened to create a new dedicated left turn lane for eastbound traffic heading to the direct ramp, but doing so would require PennDOT and Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission approvals and several years of planning and approvals. A change that could be made more quickly would be to move the stop sign on Mainland Road closer to Sumneytown, since drivers currently have to pull past the stop sign to see traffic before they make the right onto the main road.

“The ‘All traffic must turn right’ sign is pretty far back, not up there where they’re stopped, so they’re really not paying attention to that. And there’s not a physical restriction that’s trying to keep them from getting across,” she said.

Farther down the road, Butler told the board, plans are being revived to finish the long-discussed Route 309 Connector project, which would link the Northeast Extension to Route 309 via the current route of Wambold Road, then north along new road through Hatfield and Franconia.

Supervisor Laura Smith said she remembered an early version of plans for the connector that had ramps running directly to and from Wambold Road to the turnpike, and Butler said she didn’t know of any such plans, but would look into finding them.

“The reason we’re presenting all of these options tonight, is just to give you the bigger picture from where we’re at today, an interim solution, and where we think we might be in a couple of years,” she said.

Supervisor Dan Littley said he thought the engineering firm could approach PennDOT and the Turnpike Commission to discuss the current traffic backups and the possible impact of the connector, and said any possible widening of Sumneytown should be included in that project.

“You talk about widening on Sumneytown Pike. Who’s paying for that? Please don’t say the township, because we didn’t cause the problem,” he said.

The board then voted unanimously to direct the traffic engineering firm to begin meeting with township staff, the turnpike commission, and PennDOT to look at short- and longterm solutions, and supervisor Jim Sinz added that he’d like to see local lawmakers or their staff involved in those talks too.

Towamencin’s supervisors next meet at 7:30 p.m. on Jan. 10 at the township administration building, 1090 Troxel Road. For more information or meeting agendas and materials visit www.Towamencin.org.