News

Transportation

January 22

Taming a deadly highway

The state says Route 115 in Bear Creek Twp. is safer these days, but people who live and drive there say they still have concerns.

By Sherry Long slong@timesleader.com
Staff Writer

BEAR CREEK TWP. – Road improvements to Route 115 in Bear Creek Township are making the road safer, state police and transportation officials said.

Township officials and people living and working in the area disagree. They said the changes make them feel less safe because drivers are still driving extremely fast and tailgating other vehicles when traveling in the one-lane corridor.

Bear Creek Township residents, township officials and Bear Creek Charter School officials demanded changes to make the roadway safer after three high-profile crashes, including two fatalities, all occurring in a little over one week in January 2010.

Kimberly Biggs Keil, 45, died Jan. 12, 2010 when her vehicle was struck by an out-of-control truck headed the opposite way. Christina M. Rock, 38, died Jan. 7 when her vehicle hit black ice and collided with another vehicle in which a woman and young child were seriously injured. Luzerne County Senior Judge Chester Muroski was involved in a one-car crash Jan. 4, 2010 when, he said, his car encountered ice, ran off the road and hit two mailboxes. He suffered minor injuries for which he was treated at a hospital and then released.

State representatives called for Pennsylvania Department of Transportation and state police to work together to make the roadway safe. State police began patrolling the area more often and PennDOT conducted an in-depth traffic and engineering study last spring to recommend changes to the roadway.

Troopers wrote hundreds of tickets in the last year as they continue to patrol the area using marked, unmarked and non-conventional vehicles, said Pennsylvania State Trooper spokesman Martin Connors.. Radar enforcement will continue in the area. Exact figures on the number of citations issued since January 2010 were not immediately available.

The installation of two permanent message boards with radar capabilities, lowering the speed limit, adding rumble strips and removing passing lanes in the north and southbound lanes were implemented based on PennDOT’s recommendation beginning in July to make the curvy road safe. The improvements cost $113,284 using money from the local district’s safety fund.

Transportation and state trooper officials maintain the road is safer, pointing to statistics, yet stress that drivers are ultimately responsible for their actions when they get behind the wheel.

“The improvements we made to the road are designed to deal with driver behavior. No road is unsafe. The things we implemented are safety implementations. People still have to observe them. People still have a responsibility when it comes to their own safety and the safety of other people when it comes to driving,” said Karen Dussinger, spokeswoman for PennDOT.

Four more crashes occurred on the three-mile stretch of the road since July, Dussinger said. Three of those crashes resulted in minor injuries and property damage, she said. One of those crashes was fatal, as a man fleeing the scene of a hit-and-run crash in mid-September lost control of his vehicle, said Connors of the Wyoming Barracks. He added that speed, not weather, was a factor in that crash.

“The crashes have been reduced. Between the enforcement efforts of the state police and changes to the roadway by PennDOT it definitely has been working,” Connors said.

Bear Creek Township Supervisor Ruth Ann Koval said she is not pleased with the one lane in each direction. Reducing the roadway to one lane each direction causes major backups, she said. Township resident Nicole Heffernan agreed with Koval, saying there is no safety zone for a person to go to if something happens to a vehicle in front of her as she drives.

“It frustrates me because I can’t get around them. With two lanes it was easier that I could get around them if I needed to. I think it is more dangerous because if a truck loses a wheel or something you are right behind them and you can’t get out of the way. If you go into the other lane someone could be coming straight at you,” Heffernan said.

Some of the residents’ frustrations last year arose because they believed PennDOT did not do enough to prevent ice from forming and remove snow quickly enough from the highway.

PennDOT takes an active approach to ensuring the roadway is clear of weather hazards, said Martha Feisel, assistant county maintenance manager for PennDOT, who oversees Luzerne County.

“We are out there all of the time. Because of the ever-changing weather conditions from the top to the bottom of the mountain, we address everything from fog to snow to freezing rain with the appropriate material,” Feisel said.

Antiskid material is put on the road during a very wet storm. A brine pre-treatment followed by a salt and antiskid mixture is poured on the road to prevent ice and snow from bonding to the road surface.

Heffernan said the transportation department has done a good job in the last couple weeks keeping the highway clear by treating the roadways and removing snow.

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