East Allen has simple fix for tractor-trailers hitting traffic signals
State funding may be the answer to solving the problem of tractor-trailers’ hitting a traffic signal mast over a busy intersection in East Allen Township.
Positioned over the intersection of Airport Road and Hanoverville Road, the mast has been hit at least four times by passing trucks, township Engineer Jim Milot told the Board of Supervisors on Thursday.
Raising it is the obvious solution, which the township could do with money from the state Department of Transportation’s Automated Red Light Enforcement grant program.
While intended to improve enforcement at intersections with high incidences of motorists running through red lights, funds can also be utilized for improving safety and mobility.
The township originally targeted the corner of Airport Road and Nor-Bath Boulevard/Route 329 for signal improvements through the ARLE program, but were turned aside by PennDOT.
The board voted 4-0 to authorize Milot to pursue the grant and begin the process of posting the work for bidding. Supervisor Peggy Moser was absent.
In other business, the township directed Milot to begin the process of bidding for contractors to demolish the former state hospital at 6710 Weaversville Road, on an 18-acre parcel just west of Bicentennial Park which East Allen is looking at for a new municipal complex.
The hope is that bids will come in lower from contractors seeking work during November and December, when jobs are less plentiful.
“We can always turn them down; it doesn’t cost anything to turn them down,” Chairman Roger Unangst said.
The site would initially serve as the location for a public works facility to replace the cramped, outdated 3,750-square-foot building on Nor-Bath Boulevard.
Township Manager Brent Green said officials hope to supplement a $220,000 gaming funds grant with further funding through Northampton County’s Community Investment Partnership Program to help cover the cost of the demolition work.
The bid would only cover removal of the main building, with an abandoned farmhouse at the corner of Weaversville Road and Colony Drive to be removed at a later date, Milot said.
The building was used as a juvenile detention facility after the hospital was abandoned.