SHAMOKIN DAM – The number of fatal accidents at the intersection of Routes 54 and 642 in Montour County has forced some re-thinking about that intersection’s configuration. PennDOT’s preferred solution is installing a roundabout, but doesn’t sit well with some area residents.
The roundabout option and two other options to improve safety were discussed during Friday’s Greater Susquehanna Valley Chamber of Commerce Transportation Committee meeting. Eric Weber, PennDOT Project Manager, “They don’t really understand, I’m guessing, how the roundabouts actually function, so we’re going to work to kind of educate them a little bit more and show them a little more clearly on how it actually functions. So we’ll see if they follow our lead or maybe we’ll be changing directions.”
Weber also says a petition was signed by over 200 residents and delivered to State Senator John Gordner (R-27th, Berwick) opposing the roundabout option. Residents instead favored one of the other options of installing a jug handle. But Weber says studies indicate a roundabout is the best option, citing a 100-percent fatality reduction rate, “It is significantly safer because there are no head-on collisions and if there is an accident inside a roundabout, it’s kind of a side-swipe and it’s not a direct impact-type of situation, it’s at a little bit of an angle.”
Another option involves installing two new traffic signals at the intersection. Weber says a Citizens Advisory Committee has been formed to decide on one of the three options by this June. He says that decision will be announced at a public meeting. No start date for construction has yet been determined.
