Rush Township supervisors sent a letter to the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation this month asking for a speed limit reduction on a portion of Route 54 in hopes that a brake retarder prohibition can follow.

During Thursday’s regular monthly meeting, Supervisor George Gerhard said he heard from a resident who had contacted state Sen. David Argall’s office about reduced speed and a ban on brake retarders, often called Jake brakes, on Route 54.

“Argall’s office in turn said that they can’t entertain anything unless they get a letter from us,” Gerhard said.

After some discussion, the board agreed to send correspondence to Argall’s office and the office of state Rep. Jamie Barton, asking for help in reducing the speed from 55 mph to 45 mph between Lake Drive and the village of Hometown.

In November, the board asked PennDOT to ban the use of brake retarders on the stretch but learned in January that the request was denied.

In its denial letter, PennDOT noted that Route 54 is 55 mph between Charles Street and Ye Old Hauto Road.

“Therefore, not all criteria is satisfied and an Engine Brake Retarder Prohibition is not warranted at the locations mentioned,” the letter states.

As a result, supervisors asked township engineer, ARRO Engineering, to petition PennDOT to lower the speed there to 45 mph.

Christine Verdier, Argall’s chief of staff, confirmed this week that the office received a letter from the resident.

“Any of those requests, we have to refer them back to the municipal government,” Verdier said. “They have to put the request in writing to PennDOT.”

In Rush Township’s case, supervisors already had made the request to PennDOT.

“March 13 was their letter to PennDOT asking for the Jake brake and speed reduction,” Verdier said.

Since Rush Township already submitted its requests to PennDOT, Verdier said sending anything more would be duplicative.

“They just did it two weeks ago,” Verdier said. “PennDOT is going to respond. They always do. It’s either warranted or not.”

To address the speed limit reduction request, PennDOT would need to complete a speed study, said Shawn Brown, PennDOT spokesman.

“With our current workload we are looking at a 4-6 week turn around time for a speed study,” he said.

Studies look at stopping sight distances, speed-related crashes, roadside development, traffic volumes and roadway conditions.

To compile the study, PennDOT also uses a checklist with questions, such as:

• Do obstructions block a driver’s view of pedestrians or approaching vehicles?

• Is there evidence of crashes (skid marks, property damage, tree/bush damage, broken glass/vehicle parts, etc.)?

• Have you observed the location during peak hours for volume, crashes and traffic operations?

• Are there vehicle/pedestrians conflicts?

In other business, supervisors:

• Awarded a bid of $5,244 for concrete floor work at the sewer garage addition to Bruce Snyder.

• Moved the April meeting from April 17 to April 8 at 7 p.m.

• Granted a time extension to July 31 for ProMax Fencing Systems for fence work at the proposed recycling facility.