Lederach 5-points traffic signal meeting set March 14
Township officials recommending 4-way stop signs at Freeman School and Salfordville roads intersection
LOWER SALFORD » A public meeting with Pennsylvania Department of Transportation representatives giving an update on the planned installation of a traffic signal at the five points Lederach intersection will be held 7 p.m. Wednesday, March 14, Lower Salford officials said at the Feb. 21 Lower Salford Township Board of Supervisors morning work session.
The traffic light is being installed at the intersection of Route 113, Cross Road, Salfordville Road, Morris Road and Old Skippack Pike because Route 113 is part of the truck detour route for scheduled bridge replacement work on Route 63 in Upper Salford, but the signal could be installed before that 2019 detour and could become a permanent traffic signal, state and township officials have previously said.
Information from a November 2017 presentation about the plans is available at www.lowersalfordtownship.org.
After reviewing various options for the intersection, the recommended one is to make parts of Old Skippack Pike and Morris Road one way leading away from the intersection when the traffic signal is installed, PennDOT said at the November meeting.
The Lower Salford board is planning to vote on the proposed one ways at its April 4 meeting, the board said at the Feb. 21 meeting.
The plans call for the state to pay for the cost of installing the traffic signal and related work, but that will only happen if the plan to add the one ways is approved, board Chairman Doug Gifford said.
“Then our choice becomes do we accept this gracious gift from PennDOT or do we turn our backs on it,” he said. “It’s pretty tough to turn your back on a couple hundred thousand dollars of traffic improvements.”
In another traffic safetyrelated matter, traffic engineer Stephanie Butler said a four-way stop is warranted at the intersection of Freeman School and Salfordville roads, where there were 48 traffic accidents in the past five years, the majority of which involved injury and/or vehicles having to be towed.
There currently are stop signs on Freeman School Road at the intersection. The plan would add stop signs on Salfordville Road.
Part of the problem is sight distance issues at the intersection, board member Keith Bergman said.
The rebuilding and reopening of the Freeman School Road bridge added to the amount of traffic, board member Phil Heilman said.
Salfordville Road traffic has also increased, he said.
“It’s pretty heavily travelled,” Gifford said. “It’s a real bypass for (Route) 63.”
Planned additional work on other bridges will bring more traffic from detouring drivers, Bergman said.
Since the proposed additional stop signs would be on a state road, PennDOT has to review and agree with the plans before the stop signs would be installed, Butler said.