Planned roundabout may be built in summer of 2023

Roadway to be closed during construction

As planning continues for the first traffic roundabout in the municipality, the detour route for when it is constructed was discussed at the March 22 East Rockhill Township Board of Supervisors meeting.

The roundabout is planned for Park Avenue and Three Mile Run Road and is being built by Select Properties for its planned 103 single family homes and 95 townhouses on the 66.17-acre McClennen tract between Old Bethlehem Pike and Hill Road north of Three Mile Run Road. The development plans received conditional preliminary approval in February.

No date has been set yet for when the construction of the roundabout will take place, but it could be in the summer of 2023, Steve Baluh, East Rockhill’s engineer, said at the March meeting.

“What they’re proposing is to use Route 309 and Bethlehem Pike as the detour route,” he said. “It would have signs starting up at Tollgate Road taking people out to 309 and down Bethlehem Pike all the way to Ridge Road, then back over.”

Forrest Road would be used for a local detour, he said.

Under the plan, traffic on Three Mile Run Road would be detoured along Tunnel Road to Ridge Road, he said. That could change, though, if it is decided there isn’t enough sight distance, he said in answer to resident comments.

In answer to board Chairman Gary Volovnik’s question about how long the roadway would be closed for the work, Baluh said it would be up to two months if the road was totally closed or three to four months with a partial closure. The plans discussed were for full closure.

In answer to Volovnik’s question of whether the closure would affect school buses, Baluh said there’s some leeway in when the work is done, but it could be next summer.

“It probably would make sense to show this preliminary plan to the school district traffic department and get their feedback,” he said.

“Even if we do start in the summer,” he said, “we could drift into the beginning of the school year.”

The detour plans will first be reviewed with the school district, then will go to the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation, which must give its approval, Baluh said.

Signs will be posted before the work begins alerting drivers about the upcoming road closure and information can be included in a township newsletter, he said. The PennDOT website will also list the road closure, he said.

In other matters at the meeting:

• The township’s golf driving range in Willard H. Markey Centennial Park is scheduled to open April 18, Public Works Director Jeff Scholl said.

• The public works department has started dismantling a mobile home on township-owned open space land on Schwenkmill Road, Township Manager Marianne Morano said.

The 1973 model previously was offered for sale in an online auction with the condition that the buyer disassemble it and remove it from the township property, properly dispose of the materials off-site, and restore, seed and mulch any earth disturbance during the removal.

In January, the board approved the sale to the only bidder, who offered $1.

That person no longer wants to go through with the purchase, Morano said.

Scholl said the prospective buyer said he had thought the sale also included some property.

At the March meeting, the board accepted the bid withdrawal.