The preliminary findings of a PennDOT study on the dangerous intersection of Stadium Drive with East Pleasant Valley Boulevard in Antis Township indicate the department will eventually recommend installing a traffic light there, according to Township Manager Doug Brown.

Over the years, there have been at least two fatal crashes, along with a significant number of other accidents at the intersection, as well as some close calls, Brown has said.

The township requested the study, which isn’t costing the municipality anything, but to get the study, the township had to commit to implementing the resulting recommendations — and a traffic light is likely to cost at least $300,000, Brown said.

That amount would be “disruptive” to the township budget, but the supervisors are nevertheless committed to making the improvement, Brown said.

He had advised them of the need to “bite the bullet” before they voted in October to request the study.

“It’s ultimately about improving the safety of the roads,” he said.

A grant would minimize or eliminate the budget disruption, but PennDOT’s often-used Green Light-Go program can’t be used for new traffic light construction, Brown said.

The state’s Automated Red Light Enforcement Transportation Enhancements grant program can be used that way, but it’s highly competitive, he said.

That competitiveness could be problematic, given that once the study is finished, the township would have just two years to do the project.

Brown learned about the preliminary findings at a recent on-site meeting with representation from PennDOT and the Bellwood-

Antis School District, which owns recreation fields nearby.

Audit request

The supervisors this week formally requested that Pinecroft Volunteer Fire Company obtain an audit in keeping with an agreement between the fire company and the township that such an audit would be performed every five years, Brown said.

An engagement letter is already in place for Young Oakes Brown & Co. to do the audit, Brown said.

It would be proper to have such an audit performed before Pinecroft’s prospective merger or consolidation with Excelsior Fire Department No. 1 of Bellwood, as will be recommended by an ongoing study, according to Brown.

But it is up to Pinecroft to follow through with the audit, he said.

Mirror Staff Writer William Kibler is at 814-949-7038.