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PennDOT eyes Rt. 41 improvements

LONDON GROVE — Penn-DOT officials involved in the Route 41 highway project say they are changing their focus to identify and make suggestions for improvements to the 10-mile corridor, based on safety concerns.

PennDOT made the announcement at its last meeting of the executive committee on Wednesday. The committee, composed of 25 different stakeholders, including representatives of 12 municipalities, was formed in April 2005 to assist in the re-evaluation of transportation improvements in the 10-mile stretch between Route 926 and the Delaware state line.

The committee met monthly until October, when PennDOT released three options — two of the options focused on safety improvements and the third option included bypasses around Avondale and Chatham.

While most of the stakeholders supported the proposed bypasses, Avondale was against a bypass through the borough, and London Grove and Londonderry opposed a bypass around Chatham.

The Brandywine Conservancy and SAVE (Safety, Agriculture, Village and Environment), a nonprofit community group, were also opposed to the bypass around Chatham. Avondale wanted a bypass along the London Grove/borough boundary, which Penn-DOT rejected because it would significantly affect more residential property.

Rina Cutler, deputy secretary of Administration for Penn-DOT, said in an interview Thursday that the agency along with its consultants worked with Avondale last winter to try to determine a location for a bypass to no avail.

"We looked at five different locations and at the end of the day couldn't find one," said Cutler. "Every option would require taking between 20 and 30 houses. It's very difficult to put a two-lane parkway through a community keeping in mind that you have to avoid historical resources and flood plains."

Given that there was "no real consensus on Avondale or Chatham bypasses," the highway department decided to focus on safety issues. "Obviously improving safety issues, there was consensus," said Cutler.

Initially, the agency looked at the highway as a capacity problem. The two-lane highway that weaves through towns and agricultural areas is a major thoroughfare used by tractor-trailers.

PennDOT, which has been studying the route since 1993, is now looking at crash data to see where accidents are occurring. Many are caused by turning and now it is going to look at areas where it can add turning lanes. In Chatham and Avondale, traffic has to be slowed down, said Cutler.

PennDOT is doing an environmental review of the whole corridor and will be looking at areas where a roundabout may be appropriate or a signalized intersection. "We're looking at all options — on-grade which is existing roadway to bypasses." While bypasses haven't been ruled out completely, Cutler said, "my belief is it won't be a viable option."

When the review is complete, PennDOT will be holding public meetings to review its new recommendations.

Dee Durham, executive director of SAVE said they were thrilled that PennDOT will be focusing on safety concerns but thought that Avondale had missed an opportunity to solve some long-term problems when it couldn't agree on a route for a bypass. "By not accepting the parkway that was proposed, Avondale chose not to have a parkway which was a shame because it would have addressed their main concern to get tractor-trailers out of the downtown."

PennDOT officials were criticized by SCCOOT, the Southern Chester County Organization for Transportation, for not aggressively pursing the Avondale bypass. "We are extremely disappointed that PennDOT didn't take a more aggressive role regarding the Avondale bypass," said Jack Weber Jr., chairman of the seven-member SCCOOT board, who attended Wednesday's executive committee meeting.

"In every situation there are people who will feel disenfranchised. It's virtually impossible to get 100 percent buy-in. To expect a consensus is unrealistic," Weber said. While some people ascribe to the theory that "if you build it, they will come," as a reason not to build a bypass around Avondale, Weber said, PennDOT said that argument didn't hold water because the traffic is already there.

While Weber supported making safety improvements, he didn't think it would do anything to alleviate traffic volume in Avondale on the highway in general. He said that municipalities need to assume some responsibility for traffic, particularly when they are approving new developments but not insisting on traffic mitigation measures.

"As someone at the executive committee said, ‘this is a democracy and a majority rules, but in this case a minority ruled,'" said Weber.

To contact staff writer Anne Pickering, send an e-mail to apickering@dailylocal.com.