Hempfield addressing speed, safety issues on Fosterville Road

Turn onto Fosterville Road near Hempfield Area High School on Route 136 and you’ll find yourself among well kept homes in a heavily residential area.

The speed limit is 25 mph, but that’s often not followed, said resident Dan Laskey.

“They’re going too fast,” he said.

There are plenty of young families and children who play outside in his neighborhood off Fosterville Road on Denton Street, and in others in the area. Township officials are looking for input from residents in an effort to create a plan in the coming months that will address safety issues on the road.

“That plan will give us the opportunity to go after funding and identify what actions might be best for the community,” said Aaron Siko, township manager.

A survey seeking information from residents of Fosterville Road and neighboring areas is available on the township website. It asks about issues residents have experienced, like speeding and running stop signs, and what type of traffic calming measures, if any, they would be willing to accept, such as road narrowing or speed humps.

Township officials said the survey will be available for a few weeks as an initial step to address concerns expressed by residents. Siko said there will be additional outreach events to get public feedback in preparation of the plan, which could be in adopted this winter.

“Fosterville Road, for many years, has been an area where we’ve had a lot of complaints about speeding,” he said.

Two-lane Fosterville Road runs from Route 136, in the Fort Allen neighborhood, to Old Route 119 near Youngwood. There are several stop signs and part of the road has lines painted on it, but the lines disappear as motorists get closer to Old Route 119.

“We’ve had a number of residents concerned with traffic on Fosterville Road,” said Supervisor Doug Weimer.

There are numerous housing developments on streets that connect to Fosterville with at least two more on the way. Fosterville Road is in need of safety upgrades to make it better for pedestrians, bicyclists, school buses and motorists, Weimer said.

“This area is just going to become more traveled with residents,” he said.

The road doesn’t appear on PennDOT traffic volume maps, but Baltzer Meyer Pike and Willow Crossing Road nearby have an average daily traffic count of 2,700 and 3,200, respectively.

Route 819 concern

As resident complaints got township officials to take a look at Fosterville Road, Audria Craven is hoping to get the same treatment elsewhere — Route 819.

At Monday’s township supervisors meeting, she requested officials look at the stretch of road where she lives coming out of South Greensburg to Shady Lane in Hempfield. She said motorists speed around a blind turn there.

Road signs are old, cracked and faded, she said, and Craven and a neighbor sometimes have trouble exiting their driveways because of speeders.

“We can’t get out quick enough sometimes,” she said.

Supervisor Bill Bretz said the township can set up a device to do vehicle and speed counts for data collection. They can use the outcomes to request state police conduct targeted enforcement.