Stop signs will be installed at ramps in Mahoning Township where motorists fail to yield before entering a jam-packed Route 443.

Supervisors last week agreed to sign the traffic signal maintenance agreement, changing the right turn slip lanes from yield to stop controlled.

The purpose is to get motorists to stop instead of yield when they are leaving the Walmart, Giant and Lowe’s.

In September, supervisors unanimously agreed to have township engineer Peter Eisenbrown write a letter to the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation requesting the signs for the ramps at Giant Food Store and Walmart eastbound, and Lowe’s Home Improvement westbound.

That came after board Chairman Robert Slaw suggested the stop signs.

After that meeting, Slaw said the reason for the request is because motorists are not yielding when they exit ramps that lead from the stores to Route 443.

The hope, Slaw said, is that the signs would require vehicles to stop before they head out onto the busy intersection.

In August, supervisors opted not to put in a streetlight at the intersection of Ashtown Drive and Route 443.

In July, Supervisor Deb McGowan said that she heard a request to put a streetlight at the intersection, and that she’d like the township to ask PPL to consider putting one at the junction.

The board agreed to send letters to the eight property owners who would be affected and have to pay a streetlight assessment tax of $49 a year.

In August, it was announced that four property owners were not in favor, two were in favor, and there was one nonresponse.

In January, the board, minus two supervisors, tabled discussion on the addition of a streetlight at the intersection.

Slaw said at that time that the planning commission received two plans for properties located nearby along 443.

The Route 443/Blakeslee Boulevard reconstruction project has resulted in an uptick in traffic on Ashtown Drive.

The project began Feb. 15 and will rehabilitate the portion of roadway from the Carbon Plaza Mall in Mahoning Township to the Route 209/Thomas J. McCall Memorial Bridge in Lehighton.

H & K Group Inc. of Skippack is the general contractor on the $21 million project that is anticipated to be completed in September 2024.