Board could transfer properties to PennDOT for Cowpath-Orvilla intersection
HATFIELD TWP. >> Another step toward realigning the intersection of Cowpath and Orvilla Roads may come this week.
The township’s commissioners could act Wednesday to turn over a series of parcels north of the current intersection, where a new roadway could be built starting soon.
“It’s really simple: township property now, gets turned over to PennDOT, where the road will be,” said Township Manager Aaron Bibro.
Staff and the board have taken numerous steps over the past five years to make a realignment of the offset intersection a reality. In 2014 into 2015 Hatfield used reserve funds to acquire a vacant gas station on the north side of the intersection, then secured $280,000 in state grant money in 2016 to formalize a design, before applying for $3 million in state grants that year to finish the project. When that request was turned down, the board then used
developer contributions to buy three houses on the north side at the start of 2018, and two grant applications were approved last summer seeking $1 million in state grant funds that were awarded in October 2018 for the road construction portion.
Bibro gave the board an update during their May 8 meeting, saying staff have held length talks with PennDOT in recent months about what steps are next.
“We’re getting very close to finally receiving a permit from PennDOT, so that we can bid the project,” Bibro said.
“I’m hoping when we come here next month, we can talk about bidding the project, and then subsequently see some work being completed out there,”
he said.
The plans that were finalized over the past two years and now up for state approval involve building a new northern leg of Orvilla, slightly to the west of the current roadway, that will be aligned directly opposite the current southern portion. The current northern leg would then be closed and converted into a cul-de-sac, with the signal there removed, so all four sides of the intersection flow through one fourway intersection with one signal instead of the current two offset signals.
“There was a lot of discussion on PennDOT’s end as far as how they would like to see that happen, but we finally reached a conclusion, with the solicitor and PennDOT, that made them comfortable,” Bibro said.
Last summer, after the township took ownership of the three parcels
north of the intersection, local police and firefighters were allowed to use the houses for training exercises before they were demolished. Now, Bibro told the board, those parcels will be handed over to the state so next steps can begin, and once the project is bid out, the timeline will come into further focus.
“At the end of construction, this is going to be a state road, which we all know. The commissioners made a lot of efforts to correct a state problem, as far as a dangerous intersection,” Bibro said.
Hatfield’s commissioners next meet at 7:30 p.m. on May 22 at the township administration building, 1950 School Road. For more information or meeting agendas and materials visit www.Hatfield.org or follow @HatfieldPA on Twitter.