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L. Towamensing residents push for road repairs

Road conditions in Lower Towamensing Township were a big concern for residents at the supervisors meeting Tuesday night. Several roads were suggested by residents as needing repair.

One township resident said Forest Drive has a pothole that forces vehicles to go around it, which can be dangerous if another car comes down the other side.

“We are aware of it,” said Brent Green, the chairman of the supervisors.

Green said he spoke to the one employee the township does have about the road, and he said it can’t be cold patched yet, because the ground is still frozen.

“The cold patch would most likely not stay in place,” he said.

Green said it will most likely be repaired with stone until the weather gets warmer and they can use hot mix in early April.

“That’s the only solution that we have right now that is possible,” he said.

If the hole becomes too much of a problem, they could try to get some cold patch. He can’t guarantee that they can do this because cold patch isn’t currently being made. In the meantime, they plan to get some type of temporary fix done this week.

Resident Carol Boyce said Dairy Road has had a drainage problem for three years. She’s concerned about trucks driving on the road.

“Dairy Road itself is now beginning to disintegrate,” she said.

Golf Road is closed, because of its poor condition, she said.

“Please add Dairy Road and Golf Road to your list of priorities,” she said. “It’s dangerous and it desperately needs to be repaired.”

Resident Steve Meining suggested that instead of fixing it, just close the stretch of Golf Road that runs through the Blue Shamrock Golf Club. There are no houses on the road and the sand quarry doesn’t use it. Plus, closing it would reduce truck traffic on other township roads, he said.

“I’m recommending right now is that we abandon Golf Road completely, and take whatever money would have been used to repair that, I’m sure it would have been a very significant dollar amount, and apply that amount to some other primary roads within the township,” Meining said. “I think to spend a huge amount of money to repair that thing, that money could be used on a lot better places in the township.”

The supervisors didn’t take any action on permanently closing the road at this time.

Resident Janice Mack asked if the township was compiling a list of roads to be fixed this year. She said Boulder Oak Drive and Springhouse Lane should be on the list. She said residents like riding their bicycles and going for walks on those roads but it is becoming very difficult to do so.

Green said the supervisors haven’t begun to draft a list of roads yet, but he knows there are several to be considered. There wasn’t any roadwork done last summer, so the township has about $500,000 to spend on road projects. That said, it costs about $100,000 to $150,000 per one mile to repave a road.

Resident George Boyce asked if there are any weight restrictions on township roads.

“None of the roads are restricted for weight,” Green said.

There are two bridges with weight restrictions that go over Hunters Creek. One bridge is on Summer Mountain Road. It has a 35-ton weight restriction, Green said. The other one is a concrete bridge on Covered Bridge Road that has a 5-ton restriction. It is close to the Little Gap Covered Bridge, which is also on Covered Bridge Road. The covered bridge crosses the Aquashicola Creek, not Hunters Creek.

Green said he thinks they should do a study and pass an ordinance to restrict the weight on some of the township’s roads, then post the restrictions.