New Kensington eyes restricting use of noisy engine brakes near Valley High School

New Kensington officials are considering a restriction on the use of jake brakes in part of the city.

“Jake brakes” are the common term for the Jacobs Engine Brake, which alters the operation of an engine’s exhaust and allows it to function as a power-absorbing air compressor that can slow a truck. Their use can cause significant noise, prompting many communities to prohibit them in certain areas.

New Kensington asked PennDOT District 12, which includes Westmoreland County, for a study on the use of engine brake retarders in the Route 366 corridor, specifically near Giant Eagle and Valley High School. The study came to include the entire roadway from the Tarentum Bridge to Seventh Street.

“We had to have a study done because we are posting to a state road,” city Clerk Dennis Scarpiniti said.

After completing an engineering and traffic study, PennDOT said it will allow a prohibition only between Seventh Street and 300 feet east of Oates Boulevard, which is mostly within the area of the Valley High School campus.

If enacted by city council, the city would post signs and its police would enforce the prohibition. Violators would face a $1,000 fine for each violation.

In a letter to the city, PennDOT said it could not approve the city’s request from the intersection with Leechburg and Freeport roads through the interchange with Route 56.

“While we are sensitive to the associated noise with the ongoing use of these devices, this area of roadway has a downgrade steeper than the 4% maximum grade permissible for restriction,” PennDOT’s letter states. “Therefore, we cannot prevent the use of these devices along this section.”

Prohibiting the devices in such a steep area “would put both the county and the department in an undesirable position of liability,” the letter states.

The section of Route 366 from the bridge to Leechburg and Freeport roads is maintained by Allegheny County as part of PennDOT District 11, and the city would have to submit a request to the district office in Bridgeville for that part of the road.

New Kensington has not approached District 11, Scarpiniti said.

New Kensington Council could vote to approve the jake brake restriction on Route 366 between Seventh Street and 300 feet east of Oates Boulevard at its Nov. 7 meeting.