Lederach traffic light plans could change
It might be better to drop the part of the plan for the five points intersection in Lederach that would have made Morris Road one way and allow it to continue to be open to two way traffic at the intersection when a planned traffic signal is installed, neighboring residents and township officials suggested at a March 14 meeting with Pennsylvania Department of Transportation representatives.
A portion of Old Skippack Pike would be changed to one way, however, as had been previously proposed.
The traffic light is planned for the intersection of Route 113, Cross Road, Salfordville Road, Morris Road and Old Skippack Pike.
The signal is being installed because Route
113 through the intersection is part of the truck detour route for bridge replacement work on Route 63 in Upper Salford Township scheduled to take place next year, said George Gumas, PennDOT’s project manager for the job. Even without that additional traffic, there is already enough traffic to warrant installation of a traffic light and having the signal remain after the detour ends, township officials said.
At a meeting in September, seven options for the intersection were outlined, with PennDOT recommending making parts of Old Skippack Pike and Morris Road one way away from the intersection when the traffic light is installed. In order for that to happen, the Lower Salford Township Board of Supervisors would have to approve the one ways.
At the March 14 meeting, Jim and Phil Lederach, who own the Lederach Commons shopping center at Morris Road and Route 113, in which the post office is located, said many drivers already use the parking lot driveway as a cutthrough
from Morris Road to Route 113. The proposed one way on Morris Road will increase that, they said.
Under that plan, the Morris Road one way would begin immediately after the Morris Road entrance to Lederach Commons so drivers could not continue up Morris Road into the intersection.
Blocking the Morris Road driveway to Lederach Commons is not the answer because a lot of people use the Morris Road entrance to the post office and would then have to, instead, use the Route 113 entrance
which would be more inconvenient, Jim Lederach said. After the traffic light is installed, it will also be difficult to make a left turn from the parking lot onto Route 113 because of traffic stopped for the light, he said. If the Morris Road traffic was allowed to stay on a two way road, though, it could turn at the traffic light, he said.
Traffic engineer Nik Kharva, who is designing the signal, said keeping Morris Road two way will add to the time for the traffic light to cycle through the sequence, which means
it will take longer for some drivers to get through the light, but said leaving Morris Road two way had not previously been considered.
“I think from my expertise being a professional traffic engineer, it’s probably not going to be the best solution efficiency-wise, but that’s definitely something we should look at,” Kharva said of the proposal to keep Morris Road two-way.
Along with the possibility of keeping Morris Road two way, another option that will be looked into is making it one way only while the detour is in effect, then changing it back to two way.
Jeff Kratz, a local police officer who lives on Morris Road, said having a traffic light at the intersection will improve both safety and traffic flow.
“That intersection is long overdue to be signalized,” he said.
Morris Road should remain two way, though, he said.
“Getting out of Morris Road, as you all know, is taking your life in your own hands, and that’s why Jim and Phil experience the cut-through traffic they do now, so if you block that off, they’re going to double or triple that,” Kratz said. “I think it would be a lot safer being signalized, but I have to agree you need to keep Morris Road bi-directional.”
“I think we’re sneaking up on that as a good solution with the way this conversation is going tonight,” board member Chris Canavan said.
Canavan said it appears keeping Morris Road two way “slightly de-optimizes” the intersection plans if Morris Road was changed to one way.
“What we’re saying is we can live with that,” Canavan said.
The Lower Salford Township Board of Supervisors is being asked to make its decision on the one ways at its April 4 meeting in order for planning for the traffic signal to continue on schedule and be installed before the detour begins.
In response to other questions raised at the meeting about the traffic light’s effects on long-discussed plans for a Route 113 bypass around the intersection, Canavan said the township still supports those plans.
“We still push at every opportunity we have to get the funding for the Lederach bypass. The right of way is in place for that roadway,” he said.
“Until that funding comes through, though, we do have an unsafe situation that we would like to see at least controlled in some way.”