Nov 13, 2002 By Jenny Susa 4 min read

WEST BROWNSVILLE – Because the West Brownsville council has heard concerns from citizens about the safety of the Wilson Road intersection onto Route 88, they contacted Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) and asked for its attention to the matter. Council Vice President Dan Kendall said that PennDOT surveyed that section of the road, but found no need to make any changes there.

At their meeting Tuesday, Secretary Jack Sabo reported that they did receive a response from PennDOT about the issue. In that letter, they reported that there was no problem with sight distance, as residents had told council members there was.

Although Kendall said there was an accident at the intersection just last month, PennDOT did a six-year accident investigation and the results showed that not many accidents have occurred there. They concluded that reconstruction in the area was not necessary.

Sabo said the letter from PennDOT did suggest that a stop line could be painted at the stop sign to make sure that drivers did no extend their vehicles too far into the intersection.

Sabo quoted the letter as saying, “We suggest you place a stop bar at the intersection about 10 feet back from the edge of the three-lane traffic. It should measure 12 to 24 inches wide.”

Kendall said they would place the stop bar there to help the citizens.

“I don’t mind putting a stop line there if that will help,” said Kendall. “If we can do it in good weather, we will. If not, we’ll wait until the spring.”

Councilman Lawrence Beck agreed that the line should help, and that the council should “be okay at least until spring,” if they aren’t able to place the line until then. He said the visibility level should be safe when the cars are stopped 10 feet back.

In other concerns about roads in the borough, West Brownsville citizen Richard Brumley addressed the board, informing them that the road near his home is beginning to sink well below where it should be.

“On Penn Boulevard, the road is sinking in,” he said. “I would say it’s down about eight inches minimum.”

He said if the road was not repaired, it could lead to a lot of problems in the winter.

“It will be hard for them to plow the roads when it snows if something isn’t done there,” said Brumley.

It was also noted that outside of his home on Middle Street, there is about two inches of water because of the sinking of the nearby road.

Kendall said the council would send a letter to Pennsylvania American Water Co. to see if they could correct the problem.

“We will send a letter to them to address that issue, and see if they can fix the problem,” Kendall said.

Another safety issue brought up at the meeting was that of the traffic on Jefferson Avenue, which is next to the playground. Beck opened the issue for discussion.

“One concern of mine is the playground on Jefferson Avenue,” said Beck, explaining that people drive too fast in that area to ensure the safety of children playing there.

Mayor Martin Brockman said there were signs in the area to warn drivers of children at play, however, he believes the speed limit on the road is too high.

“The speed limit is 25 miles per hour, and I think it should be brought down,” said Brockman. “25 is pretty fast to travel in case a kid should run out into the road.”

Kendall said they could look into decreasing the speed limit and getting police to patrol the road more often.

“We’ll see if we can increase the police presence down there, and look into what signs we have there as well,” said Kendall.

In other matters, the board will have a special budget meeting on Dec. 3 to discuss matters of finances for the year 2003. Kendall also reported that he and other members of the Center West Sewage Authority will meet at solicitor Jack Purcell’s office tomorrow at 10:30 a.m. to sign an agreement to get their project of new lines underway.

“The agreement we are signing tomorrow is to begin the design phase of this project,” said Kendall. “We are getting started and the design phase will probably take nine months to a year.”

He announced that the Center West Sewage Authority would have their regular meeting this month on Wednesday, Nov. 27.