By Chris Barber
Contributing Writer

With their silence on the motion, the Penn Township Board of Supervisors rejected proceeding with a traffic study at the intersection of Jenner’s Pond Road and Baltimore Pike.

A traffic study is an accounting of traffic volume and accidents that occur at a specific location over a measured period of time. Traffic studies are used to help determine daily volumes and the need road signals or changes at the location.

Township Manager Karen Versuk reported that she had looked into the details of the proposed project and was left with somewhat of a negative reaction.

She said that while the whole issue had been brought up by the owners of the establishments served by that road including Medic 94 and the Jenner’s Pond and Luther House retirement communities, she realized the financial burden would not be on them, but on the township.

Versuk said she also initially thought the proposal would be for a flashing light like the one at the nearby firehouse. Then she realized it would be a full stop light.

“This would be a full-blown intersection,” she said, adding the cost would likely reach $2.5 million.

In the discussion that followed, the supervisors mentioned problems that come with the installation of a new traffic light.

Vic Mantegna, the chair of the Board of Supervisors, voiced his concerns:

He said a new traffic light does not exist alone. Rather, it is connected by a significant distance to other lights up and down the street – five of them. Thus, with the stop-and-go of a potential Jenner’s Pond Road light, the lights at the busy Route 796 intersection to the east and others would be affected.

That Route 796 light is at a location where school buses and student drivers traverse morning and afternoon, not to mention traffic coming off the nearby Route 1 bypass.

He and the other supervisors added several additional cumbersome accompaniments. Poles would have to be removed. Easements would have to be put in place. The township would have to maintain it in perpetuity. There would be a need for turning lanes and crosswalks.

When queried, Versuk said she had been asked not to bring up the possibility of making a roundabout. A roundabout is an intersection where the traffic circles but doesn’t stop and the approaching vehicles have to yield to the ones already inside. She said inasmuch as the traffic continues to flow in a roundabout, its access route would be used frequently by Medic 94, which has the need to stop traffic with its flashing lights. That situation could be a confusion for motorists, who might be indecisive about when they are required to stop for Medic 94 vehicles and when they aren’t required to stop.

Versuk also said she had spoken to State Rep. John Lawrence, (R-13) of West Grove, about getting grants.

She determined that the deadline for submitting funding requests had ended for 2025, and even if granted later, the funding would not come until 2027.

Lawrence also suggested to her that the time between application and reception of funds could result in the expenses increasing due to inflation — a cost the township would have to absorb itself.

She said Lawrence had asked her, “What if you do not receive state funding?”

And he suggested that the institutions involved in the requests should be asked to contribute the money needed to install the traffic lights.

In the end, Mantegna said, he wanted the three bodies that requested the traffic light to know that the supervisors are still concerned about the safety issue at the intersection.

“We agree it’s a safety issue. It’s been talked about going back a long time,” he said.