Hempfield will work with a Pittsburgh engineering firm to determine if improvements to Westland Drive can remedy residents’ concerns about speeding in the neighborhood.
Supervisors on Monday approved an agreement for $51,080 with Wooster and Associates to study the road that spans the Wendover and West Point neighborhoods.
Township public works director Austin Erhard expects the study to take three to four months.
“What they’re going to provide is at the 17 intersections along the Westland Drive corridor, they’re going to evaluate all 17 of those intersections ensuring that we address safety concerns comprehensively and not just in a piecemeal manner,” he said at a previous meeting.
Supervisors in August sought proposals for studying two-lane Westland Drive, a 1.7-mile stretch of road through a well-kept, dense residential neighborhood between Mt. Pleasant Road and Route 130. The speed limit is 25 mph and there are no pavement markings aside from the word ‘slow’ painted on the road in several locations.
The road is heavily traveled with vehicles, buses and pedestrians as there are two schools off it, along with a church.
Erhard said previously the study may determine different improvements are needed in the separate neighborhoods, which have varying house styles. Pedestrian safety and connectivity is going to be part of the study, which will seek input from residents.
“We are studying this area specifically due to community feedback and requests we get in this office so we wanted to make them a driver of the project itself, of that study, and allow for them to voice their opinions,” he said.
The study will be similar to one completed on Fosterville Road. Township officials worked with an engineering firm last year to gather resident input and examine the road in the Fort Allen neighborhood.
Results of that study led to the installation of temporary speed humps and plans to add permanent speed humps to part of Fosterville, in addition to signage.
