North Strabane Township holds hearing on Garden Street traffic
North Strabane Township supervisors heard public comment Tuesday night regarding traffic patterns on Garden Street.
Supervisors held a public hearing ahead of its monthly agenda meeting to discuss making the road a designated “no left turn” onto Route 980. There was also discussion on keeping Garden Street a two-way roadway.
The public hearing comes after North Strabane received results of a traffic study spurred by the expansion of Greenwood Village. That study by the state Department of Transportation showed a distance deficiency for drivers turning left from Garden Street onto Route 980.
“It’s how far you can see down the road,” said township manager Andy Walz. “PennDOT standards say that a minimum required sight distance is 340 feet.”
Currently, drivers turning left onto Route 980 have a 215-foot sight distance, he said.
According to the PennDOT study, if the deficiency is not addressed, that left-hand turn could be a liability for the township.
In order to resolve the sight distance issue, North Strabane voted last June to make Garden Street one-way.
“We never enforced it,” said Walz, because the township was working out other resolutions with PennDOT.
PennDOT agreed with a recommendation to keep Garden Street a two-way street, but only allow right-hand turns onto busy Route 980.
The “no left turn” designation of Garden Street is on North Strabane’s voting agenda for the June 27 meeting at 7 p.m. at the municipal building.