A public open house is scheduled for June 16 to share information about an ongoing traffic study on Westland Drive in Hempfield.
Matthew Pernelli, the township’s planning manager, said the 6 p.m. session at Wendover Middle School will provide an opportunity for residents to review the data collected and talk to township officials and the project engineer.
An April online survey of residents and others who frequent the neighborhood revealed top concerns, which include pedestrian safety and speeding, he said.
“We got over 180 responses, which I thought was just a fantastic turnout,” he said.
Township supervisors in December approved an agreement for $51,080 with Wooster & Associates to study the road that spans the Wendover and West Point neighborhoods. The project is looking at 17 intersections on the road and what methods can be used to address safety concerns.
Westland Drive is a 1.7-mile stretch of road through a well-kept, dense residential neighborhood between Mt. Pleasant Road and Route 130. The speed limit is 25 mph, and there are no pavement markings aside from the word “slow” painted on the road in several locations.
The road is heavily traveled with vehicles, buses and pedestrians as there are two schools off it, along with a church.
Wooster had done speed studies at five locations and 160 hours of evaluation at multiple intersections, according to information provided to supervisors.
Pernelli said the issues identified through the survey weren’t surprising.
“We all knew going into this that it was a troubled roadway to look into — the speeding, the pedestrian safety and the intersection safety, and not following the stop signs were the big three there,” he said.
The study is similar to one completed on Fosterville Road. Township officials worked with an engineering firm last year to gather resident input and examine the road in the Fort Allen neighborhood.
Results of that study led to the installation of temporary speed humps and plans to add permanent speed humps and signage to part of Fosterville.