Mercer County, Pa. - Metropolitan and regional planning commissions for Springfield Township and Mercer Counties along with PennDot, invited folks to share with TransSystems Corporation some of the dangers they face as they travel along an almost a two-mile stretch of US 19 about one-half mile north of the Lawrence and Mercer county line.

 

"To hear from the people who live and work along the corridor, to understand this might be an issue that maybe crash data may not show," said Mercer County Regional Planning Commission, Senior Planner Matt Stewart.

 

Other concerns include dangers at the intersections of 19 and 208. Folks at the meeting 

talked about drivers speeding on SR 208.

 

Along a stretch of State Route 208 or Leesburgh Volant road,  residents want the speed limit reduced. 

 

"The speeding is awful. It's posted 55. I get log trucks down through there going about 75 or 80 miles an hour. I've lieve there for 23, going on 24 years, and there have been 97 accidents. There have been a few where Life Flight had to be called in. Sometimes there are 6, 7, or 8 in a year, and it doesn't have to be winter or icy, it also happens in the summer," said Melvin Booher. 

 

TransSystems Corporation will include information it gathered here with data it has analyzed on accidents to come up with short, medium, and longer-term solutions. 

 

"Maybe there's some pavement markings, some signage, some clearance for sight distance purposes, the lighting so maybe there are some relatively inexpensive items that could be funded 

but we also look at some of the more big picture items that would require more funding," said Project Manager of TranSystems Corporation Brian Krul.

 

Findings are expected to be presented at the next public meeting in the near year. 

 

The project is expected to wrap up by Spring of 2022 and organizations will prioritize which projects will begin and the time frame for the projects. 

 

Work will also be underway to find grants and funds to help make the projects happen. The time frame for the short to medium and long term projects would be from 1 to 3 years, 3 to 5 years, and ten years or longer.