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Safety on Route 41:
Highland endorses 2-lane plan
March 4, 2004
Jennifer Marie Savage
ParkesBurg Post Ledger

Though the closest it gets to Route 41 is the intersection of Route 10 and Gum Tree Road, the Highland Township Board of Supervisors unanimously passed a resolution at its meeting Feb. 10 endorsing the two-lane alternative for Route 41 as being proposed by the S.A.V.E. (Safety, Agriculture, Villages, Environment) organization.

"It's a means of controlling sprawl," said Rick Abbott, supervisors' chairman, noting the township is not that far from the Route 41 highway.

"What happens in other townships impacts us," he said.

"I think it's a better way of doing it," added Supervisor Tom Scott.

Scott said he believed, eventually, a four-lane highway, which is one of the alternatives being considered by the state Department of Transportation (PennDOT), would happen, "but we're trying to hold it off as long as we can."

Dee Durham, executive director of S.A.V.E., said she was delighted with the endorsement of the Highland Township supervisors. She said, while the township does not border the highway, it would face the same kind of development pressures, should a four-lane highway or bypass be built.

S.A.V.E., a grassroots organization, formed several years ago in response to PennDOT's plans to renovate Route 41 into a four-lane highway with a bypass around the village of Chatham and Avondale. It made an alternative proposal of a two-lane highway with traffic calming features, such as roundabouts and increased police patrol.

While initially faced with staunch opposition, S.A.V.E. received a boost when their two-lane alternative was endorsed by Governor Rendell.

More recently, S.A.V.E. proposes banning through truck traffic on area roadways, including Route 41, which the Highland Township supervisors have also supported, via a resolution.

"It's a safety issue," said Abbott.

"I think [S.A.V.E.] is basically trying to make the road as safe as they can make it," said Scott. "[The resolution] states we're in favor of them, of what they are doing."

Durham and other representatives from S.A.V.E are currently going before the council and supervisors of municipalities that border the roadways, asking for their support.

Durham said previously that while the support of local officials was not necessary to present their proposal to Gov. Rendell, it would carry some weight.

Durham also said they hoped to send the proposal of the Through-Bound Truck Ban to Rendell later this year.

© ParkesBurg Post Ledger 2004