Guardrail damage created in 2010
SANATOGA PA – The accident-prone Pruss Hill Road bridge and accompanying traffic guardrail system, located just west of Schaffer Road and on the south side of the Pruss Hill Pond and dam in Lower Pottsgrove (PA) Township, has been proposed for study by Manager Rodney Hawthorne to determine how to avoid future calamities there, the Board of Commissioners learned Monday (Aug. 1, 2011).
Speeding motorists and those unfamiliar with the twisting, hilly road crash across the township-owned bridge and into the guardrail on an almost monthly basis. “Every time we make a fix, two days later it needs to be repaired again,” an exasperated Hawthorne said during the commissioners’ meeting at the municipal building, 2199 Buchert Rd., Pottstown PA.
He’s asked Sanatoga-based Traffic Planning And Design Inc. to draft a proposal under which it would assess the bridge’s structural condition, maintenance issues, daily traffic count, vehicle speeds, and related matters. The study would cost about $7,500, Hawthorne said; any recommended repairs or changes would be at additional cost to be determined later.
Hawthorne did not ask for, and the board did not entertain, an immediate vote on the study. “You’ll hear more about it from me in future meetings,” Hawthorne promised. Commissioners, however, indicated they recognized the Pruss Hill Road accidents were a persistent problem that must be addressed.
Traffic on Pruss Hill Road is destined to become busier. An increasing number of drivers headed eastbound from Pottstown, Gilbertsville and Boyertown regularly use it to connect to Rupert Road, and then travel Rupert south to the Sanatoga interchange of U.S. Route 422.
In addition, two new housing developments have already been approved for Pruss Hill between North Pleasant View and Snell roads. Acreage surrounding the pond, and extending south on the west side of Sanatoga Creek, has been designated by the township as future open space for recreational activities. Those would add not only more vehicles, but potentially pedestrian traffic too.
Drivers tend to ignore signs on either side of the bridge that clearly announce a stretch of dangerous roadway lies ahead. Some have even publicly said they know the narrow country road can be hazardous, but relish what they call the thrill of taking its tight turns at higher speeds.
Lower Pottsgrove Police, Chief Michael Shade said in earlier months, are eager to meet them. However, in some of the most recent accidents, drivers have somehow extricated their vehicles and left the scene before police were alerted an accident occurred.
Related (to Pruss Hill Road and its bridge):
- Bridge, Guardrail Study Proposed For Pruss Hill Road
- Stop Sign May Be Answer For Pruss Hill Road Crashes
- Pruss Hill Road Guardrail Now Repaired
- Use Caution Driving Pruss Hill Road
- Car Upended On Pruss Hill Road
Related (to the Lower Pottsgrove Board of Commissioners’ meeting of Aug. 1):
- Bridge, Guardrail Study Proposed For Pruss Hill Road
- Township 2009 Sex Offender Law ‘Might Not Stand Up’
- Commissioners OK KenCrest ‘Temporary’ Grenhouse
- Commissioners Gather For First August Meeting
Maybe while they are at it, they can do a traffic study at Rupert and Pruss Hill. They have already admitted that there has been increased traffic on Pruss Hill. Maybe now it will be enough traffic to justify a 3-way stop sign there. Frankly, I am tired of speeding drivers missing their turn and turning around in my driveway where my children play. Not to mention trying to cross Rupert at that intersection to get to the school bus stop!
The speed limit on that serpentine section should be dropped to 25 MPH. I’ve traveled this route for 25 years and have never had an accident, although many a time I’ve had folks behind me get angry as I drive slow through there. In winter the roadways is treacherous and there are kids who live along that road and have to wait for the bus near their driveways.
Rupert needs to be slowed down, and stop signs and alternate one-way traffic at the bridge would accomplish that. The folks who travel this route are not locals, but people from out Boyertown, Gilbertsville and New Hanover who are using the route as a bypass for Route 100 and 422. This back road is getting a lot of traffic that’s not local.
I suggest that counts be made at Pleasantview and Pruss Hill intersection, Bleim and Pleasantview intersection, Schaeffer and Pruss Hill intersection, and Rupert and Pruss Hill intersection.
This count will give you a sense of the traffic in the mornings and the afternoons, most of which is commuters running to and from the Sanatoga Interchange, like Joe said.
Hey, lets toll the Rupert road bridge and get them to pay for our road upkeep. Sorry; couldn’t help but throw that in there …
By the way, the truck traffic through there may be responsible for the recent damage. No automobile could have done that without being totally disabled …