Looking to improve safety for pedestrians, cyclists and motorists alike, Ferguson Township has been working on a Northland area mobility study, and it is asking for the public’s help in prioritizing their efforts.
Township Engineer Ron Seybert said the township decided to address the area because people voiced some concerns that included the growing Blue Course Drive and Martin Street area.
With a heavy use of public transit, along with the many bikers and pedestrians that use the shared-use bike paths and Tudek Memorial Park, there are a lot of people on the streets and sidewalks in the heavily traveled area.
The township, working along with PennDOT, Centre Area Transportation Authority and the Centre Regional Planning Agency, received public input on potential improvements to the area through an online survey in October. After reviewing public input, the township came up with multiple different improvements ranging from adding a shared-use path for bikers and hikers to new pull-off areas for buses along Martin Street.
A crash trend report about the area in the study shows 243 total crashes from 2013 to 2018, including eight involving pedestrians and bicycles. Those crashes caused a total of 53 injuries and five of those injuries involved pedestrians and bicycles. Seventy-seven of the crashes occurred at night including three of the pedestrian or bicycle crashes.
The township held an open house for the public on March 11 asking for feedback on the potential improvements in order to get the public help in prioritizing the projects. The potential improvements are available online at www.twp.ferguson.pa.us for a limited time and the public can submit comments and suggestions online as well.
Projects will be prioritized based on community feedback and projected project costs. The projects will then need to be approved by the township supervisors. Seybert said that although some projects may not be approved and some may be completed at a later date, the hope is to start working as early as next year if they are approved by the supervisors and fit into the budget.
An interesting potential project would be to add a flashing yellow turn arrow to the Blue Course Drive and Martin Street intersection. Currently the left hand turnoff on Blue Course to Martin Street is controlled by a traditional green or red arrow. The flashing yellow area would allow motorists to turn, but yield to oncoming traffic.
Seybert said this type of signal is new to Pennsylvania and this could be the first use in Centre County. The light is flexible and can be set to go to green and red at certain times of the day.
Other potential applications are the Blue Course Drive and Circleville Road/ Teaberry Lane intersection and at Aaron Drive and Martin Street.
More potential improvements include:
– Transit stops and mid-block crossing on Blue Course Drive at the Blue Course Commons CATA bus stop across from the Blue golf course;
– Shared use path along Blue Course Drive and Clinton Avenue and a protected bike lane option;
– A roundabout to help control traffic and make turns from Herman Drive;
– Bus turnouts along Martin Street to allow buses picking up and dropping off passengers to move away from the lane of traffic. Enhanced pedestrian crossing would be added as well;
– Lighting recommendation to the intersections in the area; and
– An upgraded pedestrian network with filled-in sidewalk gaps.
FERGUSON TOWNSHIP is considering adding a flashing yellow turn area, recently approved by PennDOT, to a handful of intersections as part of the Northland area mobility study.
