Two more traffic signals proposed for Norland Avenue area

Chambersburg Public Opinion

CHAMBERSBURG – The area of Interstate 81 Exit 17 may be getting another traffic signal.

Greene Township has applied for a state grant to install two signals on Kohler Road, one at Walker Road and another at North Parkwood Drive.

Kohler Road has become an alternate route to crowded Norland Avenue, but poses serious congestion where drivers wait to turn left onto or off of Walker Road.

Vehicles wait at stop sign at t he intersection of Kohler and Walker roads, Chambersburg. Greene Township has proposed a traffic signal at the intersection and at Kohler and Parkwood.

The Kohler/Walker intersection is about 400 feet from the southbound ramps at Exit 17. It’s presented a problem since 2005, when the interchange opened and Norland Avenue was extended to Walker Road. In 2013, planners considered making Kohler/Walker a right-turn-only intersection.

“We are waiting to hear the results of our grant application,” township Supervisor Todd Burns said. “We expect to hear something in the next few weeks. We hope funding will be provided to cover the cost of both signals.”

If the grant does not come though, then township supervisors must look at alternative sources of money or phase the two projects, Burns said.

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The two intersections should meet Pennsylvania Department of Transportation criteria for traffic signals, according to Burns. A township consultant is conducting traffic studies.

A municipality is responsible for installing and maintaining traffic signals. Kohler, Walker and Parkwood also are township roads.

The PennDOT regional office has no information yet on the proposed signals, according to PennDOT spokesman Greg Penny.

“We will apply for PennDOT permits once funding is in place as part of the construction phase,” Burns said.

Norland Avenue and its feeder streets have been Franklin County’s hottest commercial area for the past decade. Restaurant chains, retailers and medical offices have opened. More are on the drawing board.

Norland offers Chambersburg commuters a direct line to I-81 and to a country-road bypass of U.S. 30 east. Rush hour traffic backs up on Norland at Walker Road and Fifth Avenue.

Greene Township has plans to rezone the area at Kohler and Walker roads in Chambersburg, seen Monday, April 4, 2016.

Kohler Road has the potential to be a relief route. It’s on a straight shot from U.S. 11 at Roland Avenue to Scotland Avenue at Woodstock Road and to Walker Road at Exit 17.

A signal at Kohler and Walker would be coordinated with other signals in the area, according to Phil Tarquino, chief of the county planning department.

The county’s transportation planning group has assigned $4 million to coordinate 56 traffic signals in the Chambersburg area by 2021. The group initiated the project in 2012.

Work is underway to extend the right turn lane on Walker Road at Norland Avenue. Vehicles lined up and heading south on Walker Road will have a longer right turn lane onto Norland Avenue once the work is completed. PennDOT is widening the shoulder along southbound Walker Road, north of Norland Avenue to help with traffic congestion. This stretch of Walker Road, along with the Kohler Road intersection and the ramps at Exit 17, are State owned roadways.
The Borough had recently relocated the adjacent sidewalk to make room for the project, according to Jeffrey Stonehill, Chambersburg Borough manager.

Signal timing however was not blamed for traffic stacking on Valentine’s Day 2017 down the southbound Exit 17 ramp almost to the I-81 mainline. Vehicles backed up on Walker Road at the Norland Avenue signal. The solution was to extend the right-turn lane on Walker to Norland.

Act 89 grants

The township wants to pay for Kohler Road signal projects through a state multimodal grant, which is funded by the increase to the state’s franchise fuel tax through Act 89 of 2013. A $2.4 million mutimodal grant, awarded to Summit Health in 2015, paid for North Parkwood extension.

North Parkwood Drive opened in August 2017 from Norland Avenue in Chambersburg to Kohler Road (actually the intersection of Kohler, Grant Point and Woodstock roads) in Greene Township.

Two vehicles collided at the intersection of Kohler and Grand Point roads, Chambersburg at around 6p.m. Monday, March 12, 2018.

Light snow fell for most of the day, but the brunt of another nor'easter will miss the Franklin County area.

The road improves access to properties owned by Summit Health and Falling Spring IV LP, a Nitterhouse family venture. Township supervisors in 2016 approved the area behind the current Chambersburg Crossing shopping center on Norland Avenue for hotels, automobile dealerships, theaters and a medical campus.

Greene Township is committed to installing a traffic signal at Kohler and North Parkwood even if the grant is not approved, according to Burns.

Fifth Avenue was extended from Norland Avenue to North Parkwood with money left over from the multimodal grant for extending North Parkwood. Fifth eventually will run to Kohler Road. The county’s long-range plan lists roundabouts on Fifth at North Parkwood and Kohler.

The township consultant is also studying the installation of an additional stop sign on Walker Road at Mower Road. Traffic going east on Walker Road does not have to stop at the T intersection.

“We expect the results of that study to be completed soon,” Burns said. “I would expect that the study is favorable to an additional stop sign. At a minimum I would expect additional warning signs or pavement markings to the intersection, so it operates at a safer standard.”

Jim Hook, 717-262-4759