Return to News Index

Save promotes remedy for traffic at Rte. 41 intersection

After presenting plans for a new two-lane alternative to London Grove Supervisors at an Oct. 6 general meeting, advocates for signalless intersections on Route 41 have shown their plans to two local businesses. In a special meeting arranged by London Grove Supervisors, leaders and experts from SAVE (Safety, Agriculture, Villages, Environment) met with representatives from Wawa food markets and from the Pettinaro Development Co. to discuss two-lane alternatives to the Route 41/Old Baltimore Pike intersection, which is the busiest in the Township's commercial district.

"Technically, we don't have any endorsement," said SAVE Director Dee Durham. "However, the representatives seemed very supportive of the idea of roundabouts at that intersection. They certainly seemed to agree that a roundabout would make perfect sense."

Jus recently, a Wawa convenience mart/service station opened right at the Y-shaped intersection. Developer Gregory Pettinaro is currently seeking approval to develop a shopping center on a 52-acre retail land parcel to the rear of the Wawa.

PennDot is currently studying the intersection as an area for improvement under the state road agency's SAMI (Safety and Mobility Initiative) project due to the high volume of traffic fatalities reported at the site each year. Durham said that SAVE has been following developments at the intersection for years and has encouraged PennDot to install a roundabout as a more efficient solution than a T-shaped design that is favored by SAMI Project Manager Douglas McInnes.

SAVE recently displayed an animated re-creation at an Oct. 6 Supervisors' meeting in an attempt to demonstrate how traffic patterns could be altered on the strip of Route 41 running from the Route 1 exit ramps to the Old Baltimore Pike intersection if a series of roundabouts were installed in the future.

Louis Kaplan, chairman of SAVE, which has advanced the two-lane traffic design alternatives for portions of PA Route 41 running through Avondale and Chatham, unveiled a detailed schematic for a roundabout and two lane road for the intersection of Route 41 and Old Baltimore Pike near the new Wawa service station. He was assisted by Durham.

"We wanted to present a new solution to traffic intersection in front of Wawa," said Kaplan, who acknowledged that roundabouts, a signalless intersection that steers oncoming two-lane traffic to around an oval before branching onto connecting roads, are a rather new concept to this area and the country. Initially pioneered in Europe, the traffic design is now starting to catch on in the United States.

"Roundabouts are small and make no assumptions about good behavior on drivers," said Kaplan. "It creates geometry that doesn't allow for anything else." With roundabouts, vehicles traveling around the circle have the right-of-way while those waiting to enter must yield it. "A light is an invitation for drivers to speed up before amber light becomes red," said Kaplan.

The former London Grove Supervisor presented safety figures from the state of Maryland, which has implemented two roundabouts. Statistics for the state show a three-fold decline in the rate of accidents and a nine-fold decline in the rate of injury-causing accidents.

The key, according to Kaplan, is that roundabouts provide the capacity to allow traffic to keep moving without stopping.

Using a fully animated video, the SAVE representatives attempt to re-create what traffic conditions would be like on the road based on estimated growth data for area circa 2027. The information was supplied by the Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission, the same data PennDot is using as part of the research for the SAMI project for traffic calming methods on Route 41.

The moving graphic depicts roundabouts at the Route 1 off-ramps entering onto an expanded two-lane Route 41 leading to another roundabout right at the intersection of Old Baltimore Pike and Route 41. The two-lane roundabouts would open in both directions and every roundabout would provide opportunities for smaller cars to pass larger trucks upon exiting the roundabout, according to Kaplan.

"The Wawa would be accessible in all directions," said Kaplan "This plan offers a safe ad effective solution for London Grove residents."

Roundabout designs showcased in the presentation were created with the assistance of Barry Crown, a noted British traffic engineer who spoke to area residents about the finer points of the signalless intersection at Avon Grove High School last year.

According to Kaplan, Crown has worked with several cities on the repair and proper implementation of roundabouts to fit certain communities. He was instrumental in helping fix a flawed roundabout in Clearwater Beach, Fla.

Kaplan said that Crown has been active in designing roundabouts that would be tailored to the characteristics and size of local traffic. Kaplan said that 50,000 roundabouts will be built in the United States over the next 20 years.

Late last year, the London Grove Board of Supervisors voted 3-2 to approve a resolution of support for a roundabout traffic intersection for Old Baltimore Pike and Route 41 rather than a conventional traffic lights. Richard Scott-Harper and Buster Needham dissented.

PennDot will have the final decision as to what form of intersection is installed on the state route connecting Lancaster County to the Delaware State line. SAMI project manager Douglas McInnes said that he would should the results of an impact study to the Township at the beginning of 2004 but Brown said that no such informational meeting has occurred as of yet.

U.S. Rep. Joseph Pitts, R-16, of East Marlborough, has already secured funding for the project. SAVE officers believe that money can be spent more efficiently if roundabouts are implemented. "We'll save $5 million if we don't build bypasses around Route 41," said Kaplan.

As for the Old Baltimore Pike intersection, Durham said that a roundabout could be built at that intersection even of PennDot decides to build the four-lane bypasses and jughandle-shaped intersections around the borough of Avondale that were introduced as part of an overall road improvement project that has been in the planning phase for years.