There was a recent accident involving a vehicle and a pedestrian along the West Elm/New Elm corridor in the Conshohocken section of Plymouth Township. Upon hearing of the accident, we remembered the request by some residents near the intersection with Light Street for a stop sign.
The roadway involved is a state-owned road, which is controlled by PennDOT and not Plymouth Township.
According to PennDOT it studied the issue and determined that a stop sign is not warranted at the intersection with Light Street, however, it is going to install some warning signage leading up to the intersection and other measures to help with sightlines when turning from Light Street.
Below is the response from PennDOT:
PennDOT has prepared an Engineering and Traffic Study for an all-way stop control at the intersection of New Elm Street (SR 3013) and Light Street located in Plymouth Township. The study was conducted using the Department’s TE-102 Form and in accordance with PennDOT Publications 212, 46; Vehicle Code, Title 75 Pa. C.S.; PA Code Title 67 Pa. C.S.; and FHWA Publication “Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices” (MUTCD).
Findings
Sight distance requirements are met for all four legs of the intersection; however, to allow for greater sight distance for drivers exiting Light Street (northbound) onto New Elm Street, the signing for no parking is recommended to allow for corner sight distance. Multiway stop applications may not be used because of the limited available corner sight distance unless there is no practical method of improving the sight distance or reducing the speed limit to satisfy the minimum corner sight distance values.
Based upon the findings of the study, roadway characteristics, field observations, and crash history, it is found that all-way stop control warrants are not satisfied for the intersection of New Elm and Light Streets. Regarding the crash history at the intersection, refer to regulations found in PennDOT Publication 212. https://www.dot.state.pa.us/public/PubsForms/Publications/PUB%20212.pdf (1) Five or more reportable or non-reportable angle crashes and proceed without clearance in any 12-month period during the most recent 3 years of available crash data. (2) All-way stop applications may not be used because of limited available corner sight distance unless there is no practical method of improving the sight distance or reducing the speed limit to satisfy the minimum corner sight distance values. There were five (5) reportable crashes at or near the intersection from 1/1/2017 to 12/31/2021. None of these crashes were angle crashes (vehicles pulling out too soon).
To warn drivers approaching Light Street, PennDOT’s Traffic Studies Section will be issuing a work order for the installation of cross-road signs with street name plaques (Light Street) mounted below. These signs will be installed on New Elm Street approximately 350 feet in advance of Light Street. The department will also install edge line pavement markings along with dotted extension lines through the intersection. Dotted extension lines are dashed paint lines through an intersection that help delineate the edge of the travel lanes so motorists on Light Street can pull forward from the stop sign to optimize sight lines before crossing or turning onto New Elm Street.
We also inquired with the members of Plymouth Township’s Council and received back an interesting response, however, the response was an accident. We emailed all the members of council together and Councilmember Karen Bramblett hit the “reply all” button, so we were included in her response, which could only have been meant for the other council members and not MoreThanTheCurve.com. She replied:
Should I send this draft response to Tierney [Kevin Tierney is the publisher of MoreThanTheCurve.com], or make no response at all?
Her “draft response” read as follows:
PennDOT must give permission for a stop sign on its state roads and to date they have not done so. We remain in discussions with them on this issue.
Interestingly, we never received an official response.