Upgrades to the signs on routes 895 and 309 in West Penn Township will be implemented after complaints about speeding.

The board of supervisors had an informational meeting with two representatives from the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation, state Rep. Jamie Barton and state Sen. Dave Argall and Christine Verdier.

The board said the discussion centered on the speed on Route 895, as well as the intersection and signs at routes 309 and 895.

PennDOT said some upgrades can be made to the current signs and will be working to have the upgrades implemented.

They also provided information about solar speed signs and intersection flashing beacons.

In November, resident Larry Stival, of Summer Valley Road, told the board that over the course of a three-week period, he’d noticed tri-axles, 18-wheelers, and motorcycles passing there along 895.

However, township police Chief Jim Bonner told Stival it’s a state highway so PennDOT has to regulate the road.

Former Supervisor Tim Houser told Stival that every time the board has met with PennDOT’s District 5, it gets told “it doesn’t meet the criteria.”

Bonner said the biggest complaint he hears is speeding vehicles and traffic.

Despite complaints about speeding, PennDOT has deemed the 55 mph speed limit along Route 895 as suitable.

After a 2019 study, the board received a letter from PennDOT about the speed limit on Route 895.

“The posted speed limit of 55 mph is appropriate for the roadway and the Department is not in favor of any alterations,” the letter stated. “While the Department understands your concerns, we are not an enforcement agency.”

The letter stated that PennDOT recommends the township contact the local police department to express any concerns with speeding vehicles on Route 895.

“A Passing Zone Study is being started for your concern to add Do Not Pass Signs where there are double yellow lines toward the intersection of State Route 895 and 309,” the letter states. “If warranted, signs will be installed.”

Bonner said at that time that while the roadway falls under PennDOT’s jurisdiction the police department monitors it.

Supervisor Glenn Hummel said that the township feels it’s “hazardous, and there should be a double yellow line” all the way down.

Stival also asked if the township could get “no passing” signs, but Prudenti said the issue is that it isn’t a township road.

In April 2019, resident Garry Steigerwalt told the board he’d like to see the speed reduced on 895.

Township solicitor Paul J. Datte said at that time there were two possibilities: If the homes are along a significant stretch, then the township is permitted to declare it a residential district; other than that, he said the township would need to conduct an engineering study. Supervisors said the township had received a response from the state Department of Transportation that the township would have to conduct a traffic study for 895 and Summer Valley Road.

Township secretary Katie Orlick previously said she requested 45 mph and a no-passing zone from 309 to Dorset Road.

PennDOT said that speed limits are typically established based on recent crash history, as well as the 85th percentile speed, which is the speed at or below which 85% of the motorists are driving under normal roadway conditions during daylight hours.

The board also heard in November from Michael Jachowicz, who lives along Dairy Road and said it has become “very dangerous.”

Jachowicz then questioned why the speed limit on the stretch of roadway by his house isn’t 35 mph.

Prudenti then asked if the township would be able to put up “no jake brake,” but Bonner said he believes the township would have to adopt an ordinance by resolution.

In October 2022, supervisors unanimously adopted a resolution to lower the speed limit to 25 mph on the section of Fort Franklin Drive between Blue Mountain Drive and the Schuylkill County line.

In June 2022, supervisors dropped the speed limit to 25 mph on Zions Stone Church Road.

Datte said the vehicle code permits the establishment of a 25 mph speed limit in a residential district if the road is not a numbered traffic route (Zions Stone Church Road is not a numbered traffic route).

He said the entire length of Zions Stone Church Road could be classified as a residential district, and a 25 mph speed limit could be established.