DANGER ZONE Trouble spot getting a fix after 5 years of trying; Cowpath-Orvilla work could start in March
HATFIELD TWP >> One of the most dangerous traffic trouble spots in Hatfield Township may finally be made safe in 2020.
Later this month the township could award a contract to realign the intersection of Cowpath and Orvilla roads.
“We’re going to see a lot of the behind-the-scenes work we’ve been doing for years, actually be tangible, and the residents will see it improve the way we move traffic in Hatfield,” said Township Manager Aaron Bibro.
For more than five years, a fix to offset the intersection issue has been in the works, to improve traffic flow and reduce accidents there. In 2014 into 2015 the township bought a vacant gas station on the north side of the intersection, was awarded $280,000 in state grant funds in 2016 to finish a design, then sought $3 million in state grants that year for construction. After that request was denied, the board used funds from developer contributions to buy three houses north of the intersection at the start of 2018, and two grant applications were approved that summer asking for $1 million in state grants that was awarded in October 2018 for the construction.
Once finished, a new northern leg of Orvilla Road will be
“We’re going to see a lot of the behind-the-scenes work we’ve been doing for years, actually be tangible, and the residents will see it improve the way we move traffic in Hatfield.” — Township Manager Aaron Bibro
built just west of the current roadway, where the three houses were demolished in the summer of 2018 after the township took ownership and allowed local emergency responders to train there. The current portion of Orvilla will then be turned into a dead-end road, with the easternmost traffic signal removed and all four legs of the intersection flowing through one four-way signal. The township spent much of 2019 finalizing approvals and property transfers.
“Miraculously, we’ve been able to navigate the process by building relationships, rather than tearing them down. We’ve torn down other things, but those families left as our friends,” said Bibro.
During his first manager’s report of 2020, Bibro said on Jan. 8 that a bid award could be possible as soon as the board’s next meeting on Jan. 22.
“Next meeting, we get to award that bid, and we hope those numbers come in favorably,” he said.
As of Jan. 8, nine contractors have expressed interest in the bid documents, according to the manager, which could mean bid prices below the roughly $1.9 million in state grant money available for the construction.
“It’s competitive, and we expect we’ll be getting a good price,” he said.
If and when a bid is awarded later this month, construction could begin quickly, bringing a project discussed for half a decade to a close by the end of 2020.
“In March, we’re hoping the dirt will start moving out there, and six months after, we think we’ll have a realigned intersection,” Bibro
said.
Another road-related project also looks likely to proceed in 2020, the manager told the board: a grantfunded project to link together and synchronize 11 traffic signals on Cowpath and Forty Foot Roads.
“From Clemens Road, where the new Dunkin’ Donuts is, all the way to Line
Street on Cowpath (Road), it’s 11 signals in what is, without question, our busiest corridor,” said Bibro.
“We’re not going to be able to ever widen Cowpath, or put up a bridge or a tunnel. The one thing we can do to help manage traffic better is have the signals synchronized, so hopefully we can reduce traffic congestion,”
he said.
That project is funded by $900,000 from a PennDOT congestion mitigation and air quality grant secured in 2016, according to the manager, and will allow each signal to communicate with each other, and with police and staff, in the event of any problem or emergency.
“We’ll have access to all of the signals, we’ll be able to manipulate those as needed, when we have failures, and we’ll be able to fix them remotely, which will be a real nice advantage,” he said.
Both projects combined add up to nearly $5 million in total spending into traffic improvements in the township, with Hatfield’s taxpayers paying only about ten percent of that total in matches for the grants.
“We were pretty happy with how we were able to accomplish both of those projects,” he said.
Hatfield’s commissioners next meet at 7:30 p.m. on Jan. 22 at the township administration building, 1950 School Road.