Oct 7, 2013 1 min read

I’ve been doing some thinking about the newspaper’s recent story concerning the planned traffic circles for Route 519. I’ve come to the conclusion that the PennDOT planners and/or engineers involved in this project must not live in this area.

If they traveled this road frequently, they would note that at the problematic intersection, drivers appear to know when they don’t have the right of way, but are too impatient to wait and pull out onto the road anyway. I can only imagine the havoc in a traffic circle where, in addition to the other issues cited, some drivers will be confused. Fender-benders will abound.

If they lived in this area, the PennDOT planners and engineers would know that, due to natural gas drilling, there has been a proliferation of truck traffic on Route 519 over the 10 miles between Route 40 and Route 19. In recent repaving, numerous passing zones have been eliminated, with no passing between Route 40 and the I-70 interchange, and for 7 miles north of Route 136 until close to Route 19. Not smart.

Carole McLaughlin

Fredericktown