Traffic and site access issues remained at the forefront of discussions as Ferguson Township’s Planning Commission reviewed the preliminary land development plan for a Wawa store along the North Atherton Street corridor.
The southeastern Pennsylvania-based convenience store chain plans to build one of its first Centre County locations at 169 W. Aaron Dr. on the former site of an auto dealership. The plans include a 5,330-square-foot store, six fueling islands under a canopy, an air station, a trash corral and 60 parking spaces. In addition to food and convenience items, Wawa plans to sell beer at the store.
Though the land development plan was submitted over the summer and reviewed for the first time by the planning commission this week, the project has been presented at public meetings dating back more than two years.
Wawa requested and was granted in 2023 a zoning variance allowing the fuel station canopy to encroach 12 feet into the rear setback. The project team also presented a concept plan in the fall of 2024.
As with those previous occasions, how vehicles will enter the site and the development’s impact on surrounding and nearby streets, particularly in the Overlook Heights neighborhood, featured prominently.
SITE ENTRANCES
Much of the planning commission’s discussion centered on Wawa’s request for an exception to have a right-in, right-out only entrance and exit from North Atherton Street.
Ferguson Township’s Subdivision and Land Development Ordinance states that when a property is bounded by two streets of different classifications, the entry should be from the street of lower classification — which in this instance would be Aaron Drive, acting township engineer Adam Wilusz explained.
While it will have full movement access from Aaron Drive, the right-in/right-out on Atherton will reduce queue times and divert traffic from Aaron Drive, a traffic impact study found.
“The right-in/right-out would actually minimize or help minimize the delays at the Aaron Drive intersection,” Tony Fruchtl, of project engineer PennTerra, said.
The township Board of Supervisors ultimately will decide whether to permit the right-in/right out, and if they do, “additional mitigation conditions and design measures shall be required to maintain safe and effective access to the site,” according to a memo from Wilusz. Those would include a raised concrete median to prevent vehicles from turning left across Atherton before the traffic signal and a right turn lane on Aaron Drive.
Wilusz said that the two options — enforcing the ordinance or granting the Atherton Street access point — have “merits and benefits.” and that with required conditions the right-in/right-out “will not adversely affect safety.”
PennDOT has approved the traffic study with the right-in/right-out alternative and mitigating conditions, Fruchtl said.
The process for obtaining a highway occupancy permit from PennDOT, Fruchtl said, will determine specific details of items such as the concrete median and traffic signal timings at the intersection of Atherton and Aaron Drive — an issue raised previously raised by residents because of frequent backups and difficulties turning left onto Aaron Drive.
Including the right-in/right-out will address the safety and convenience considerations of the ordinance, Fruchtl said, noting that it will reduce conflict points because drivers will need to make fewer turns to access the site.
Planning commission did not make a formal recommendation on Monday, but generally expressed support for the right-in/right-out.
Commission member Lewis Steinberg said that if it were not allowed, it would be encouraging drivers to use Aaron Drive and potentially other streets in the Overlook Heights neighborhood.
It may also reduce the impacts of drivers using Bergman Boulevard, other neighborhood streets and the Wawa site as a cut-through to Atherton Street, commission member Nicholas Toney said.
Bergman Boulevard starts at Vairo Boulevard and has long dead-ended at the proposed Wawa site, where previous property owners have had a closed gate preventing thru-traffic from entering. Wawa intends to use Bergman Boulevard as an access to the site (and, in fact, the gate is already open).
Some commission members disagreed on whether the Wawa property is likely to be used as a cut-through. Rob Crassweller said it would be inconvenient, while Toney said drivers already use Bergman Boulevard and cut through the neighboring Champs parking lot, which has unrestricted turning onto North Atherton Street, to avoid the traffic signals on Vairo.
Wilusz said that while it will require a driveway permit from the township, that process addresses issues like sight lines and “there would not be a very clear way” to prohibit Wawa from using a public street for site access.
Several commission members also said the township may need to address parking on Bergman Boulevard. Ralph Wheland said the road is currently used as, effectively, “a private parking lot.”
“It would seem to me that’s a township matter,” Steinberg said. “If in fact there’s parking that is inappropriate, the township has the right to set the criteria for the parking on that street.”
NEIGHBORHOOD CONCERNS
Two Overlook Heights residents reiterated previously raised concerns about increased traffic through their neighborhood resulting from the Wawa development.
“Opening up Bergman will absolutely create a flow of traffic through that parking lot,” North Allen Street resident Rob Venema said. “Furthermore, my bigger concern is that it’s going to create a flow of traffic through Overlook Heights.”
Traffic through the neighborhood is usually residential, but during high-traffic times Venema said drivers may be enticed to use Bergman to the Wawa lot, then turn left onto Aaron Drive and use North Allen Street to Clinton Avenue before merging back with North Atherton Street in order to avoid multiple traffic signals.
He added that he recently witnessed about 30 vehicles use neighborhood streets to avoid an accident scene on North Atherton Street and said that most exceeded the speed limit and failed to come to a full stop for a stop sign.
“Pushing any traffic, even a small percentage of it, into the Overlook Heights neighborhood makes zero sense,” Venema said. “You’re dramatically increasing the probability or the inevitability of accidents and at some point you know, kids or people getting hit by vehicles.”
East Aaron Drive resident Mark Chaplin agreed, saying that “very quickly it’s going to be known that’s a shortcut.”
Venema said he would like to see “a choke point somewhere that prevents that through traffic from coming through.” He suggested a barricade on Aaron Drive, similar to those in State College’s College Heights neighborhood, or a gated system with residents and emergency vehicles using RFID access controls to open it.
“Their business is based on high volume. They’re going to get high volume,” Venema said. “So just do something to prevent that traffic from getting its way down Aaron [Drive] and through the Overlook Heights neighborhoods.”
Planning commission member Bill Keough suggested that Wawa place “no left turn” signs at the Aaron Drive exit. Both he and Steinberg, however, said they were unsure about otherwise addressing in advance an issue that may or may not occur.
“One of the challenges we have is do we impose things that prevent something that hasn’t happened yet upfront or do we wait until after a situation has occurred and then look at what remedies we can make to keep it from occurring again,” Keough said. “… It’s always a challenge to try and anticipate realities that we haven’t seen yet. Certainly, I think that people coming out of Wawa, turning left on Aaron Street, coming out that access to go through that development, I have a real hard time recognizing that there’s a significant amount of people who would do that.”
“If the problem materialized, as some are confident it will, the township would have, at that time, to look to remedy that problem, whether it be with barriers, whether it be with signage, whatever it is,” Steinberg added. “But I don’t see how that, at this point, affects the township’s decision with regard to the proposal that’s before it.”
WHAT’S NEXT
The Planning Commission will review the preliminary development plan again at its Nov. 10 meeting before deciding on a recommendation. The Board of Supervisors is then expected to consider the plan and the commission’s recommendation at either its Nov. 18 or Dec. 9 meeting, Planning and Zoning Director Kimberly Smith said.
WAWA’S CENTRE COUNTY PLANS
The Ferguson Township location is one of four planned for Wawa’s foray into Centre County.
Benner Township supervisors recently gave final approval to plans for a Wawa store at the intersection of Benner Pike and Eagle Point, and Fruchtl said at the time that he anticipated site work would begin soon.
The company has also submitted plans for store on the former Snappy’s location site at Earlystown Road and Old Fort Road in Potter Township near Centre Hall.
At a community partnership event held in September at the Penn Stater Hotel and Conference Center, Wawa representatives also revealed plans for a location at East College Avenue and Squirrel Drive in College Township.
The company has not confirmed construction timelines or projected opening dates for any of the planned Centre County locations.
