Hempfield residents share concerns about Fosterville Road, where speeds reach triple the posted limit

Terri Wolfinger didn’t hold back when asked about safety issues on her Hempfield street.

She says cars and trucks routinely speed down Fosterville Road, residents can’t walk or bicycle along the street and motorists come close to rear-ending vehicles pulling out of driveways. Wolfinger said she’s yelled at drivers to slow down.

“They just keep on going like they don’t see you or they’ll give you the finger,” she said.

Township officials are working with an engineering firm to come up with a plan to address safety concerns that mainly involve speeding. An open house was held Tuesday for Gibson-Thomas Engineering to share results of a resident survey conducted over the summer and gather input from those who live along the street.

Two-lane Fosterville Road runs from Route 136 in the township’s 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.

It is heavily residential. The speed limit is 25 mph.

The township got 256 responses on its survey and speed studies were conducted in 2020 and 2024. Those studies showed motorists traveled as fast as 56 to 75 mph on Fosterville Road.

“That’s extremely fast for that type of road,” said Mark Szewcow, project manager with Gibson-Thomas Engineering.

Of survey respondents who said they walk or bike on the road, 83% said they are concerned with speeding motorists and motorists failing to stop at stop signs. The majority of people who took the survey said they’d be interested in having traffic calming measures on Fosterville Road, including speed humps and permanent speed limit signs that have radar built in.

Szewcow said he and engineer Jack Soles will be looking at what can be added to the road to bring speeds down. They’ll work on a final report to make recommendations for the township.

“We all know the only thing that will slow people down is having a cop car there,” he said. “Cops can’t be there 24/7.”

Wolfinger said she worries about a child or dog running out into the road and getting hit. She’s had issues while cutting her grass near the street.

“You better look to make sure nobody’s going to run you over, they don’t move over for you,” she said.

A state trooper has sat near her home on several occasions to catch speeders, she said. There are numerous housing developments on streets that connect to Fosterville with at least two more on the way.

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.

The survey and study are ways township officials can address residents’ concerns on Fosterville Road, said Supervisor Doug Weimer. The measures ultimately taken there could be replicated in other township communities where safety issues involving traffic exist.

“There are other neighborhoods with similar concerns,” he said.