Penn Township, Penn Hills will use state grants to update key traffic signals
State grants will help to upgrade traffic signals at intersections in Penn Township and in Penn Hills.
PennDOT’s Automated Red Light Enforcement program has awarded $325,000 to Penn Township, to replace an obsolete traffic light at Route 130 and Route 993 (Walnut Street).
Penn Hills will use its grant of nearly $330,000 grant to replace failing signal equipment on Frankstown Road, at the intersection of Spring Grove Road and Shenandoah Drive.
Once it is replaced, the Penn Township signal should have better coordination with an adjacent traffic light that already has been updated, on Route 130 at Harrison City-Export Road, according to Mary Perez, the township secretary and manager.
“The area between those two signals is quite congested during the peak hours of the day,” she said. ”Traffic flow is not what it could be going both ways on Route 130.”
The project also will add safety features for pedestrians at the Route 993 intersection: curb ramps that meet standards of the Americans with Disabilities Act and light displays that alert those on foot when it’s safe to walk across the road.
Perez noted, during Penn-Trafford High School football games, some spectators head to the township municipal building for overflow parking and walk across Route 130 to reach the school field.
The new signals in Penn Hills will feature energy-efficient LED lights and will replace equipment that was damaged by a passing truck and has otherwise been prone to disrepair and periodic failures, according to Meg Balsamico, principal planner for the municipality.
“It’s going to be a much-needed improvement,” she said. “There have been a lot of problems with the traffic signal heads at that intersection.”
She said a federal Community Development Block Grant also will be tapped, to make a sidewalk along Frankstown Road handicapped-accessible.
The two area projects were among 16 in Pennsylvania collectively awarded $8.2 million this week from the Automated Red Light Enforcement program. The grants, which do not require local matching money, are meant to improve safety and enhance mobility. They are funded through fines from red light violations at 31 intersections in Philadelphia.
“This program helps communities across the state make important investments in traffic flow and safety,” Gov. Tom Wolf said in a news release.
Jeff Himler is a TribLive reporter covering Greater Latrobe, Ligonier Valley, Mt. Pleasant Area and Derry Area school districts and their communities. He also reports on transportation issues. A journalist for more than three decades, he enjoys delving into local history. He can be reached at jhimler@triblive.com.
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