Unity residents and Route 30 drivers got a chance to speak with PennDOT and local officials at an open house Wednesday night about plans to address a troublesome intersection in the township.
The main purpose of the project is to restrict drivers on both Wimmerton Boulevard and St. Xavier’s Road from making left turns across traffic onto Route 30, owing to a history of crashes resulting from those specific maneuvers.
When Unity officials applied for state funding in 2021 to try to address the intersection, they received pushback from some residents in the Wimmerton subdivision.
Township Supervisor Mike O’Barto said that sentiment has changed for some residents in recent years.
“We had two accidents there within a week and a fatality,” O’Barto said. “I think that got people thinking about the intersection some more.”
Bibiana Boerio and her sister, Melissa, both live nearby, one in Wimmer Commons and one in Wimmerton Place. Neither felt the project was the exact right solution.
“I think they need to do more of a traffic study and some improvements to the secondary roads that will be affected by this, like Brouwers Road,” Melissa said.
PennDOT officials want to install a mountable curb to create left turn lanes into both Wimmerton and St. Xavier’s from Route 30, while fully restricting left turns from either road.
Drivers leaving the Wimmerton neighborhood would have to take Brouwers Road to Saint Vincent Drive to make a left turn directly onto eastbound Route 30.
PennDOT data showed the Route 30/Wimmerton/St. Xavier’s intersection has been the site of seven reportable crashes, in which someone is injured or a vehicle is disabled, over the past five years. That includes a fatal crash in October.
“This is one proposal,” O’Barto said of the plans on display Wednesday night at the township building. “I’ve been talking to some people from Wimmerton who would like to see a traffic signal controlling the intersection.”
The Boerio sisters are on opposite sides of that debate.
“I’ve never thought we needed a light there,” Bibiana said.
“I’ve always thought we did,” Melissa countered. “When my kids were learning to drive, I would not allow them to make that left turn onto (Route) 30 from Wimmerton Boulevard.”
PennDOT is taking public comment on the project through March 25. Submit a comment online at Forms.office.com/g/brhRsXM1Dv.
The project is slated to start this summer, lasting into summer 2027.
