Harris Township Looking to Reduce Speed Limit on Route 45

A drive down Shingletown Road/Route 45 is one of the most scenic and beautiful in the area, but as the section of road in Harris Township continues to see more nearby development, the township feels the current speed limit is unsafe, and is working to have it reduced.

The stretch of Route 45 the township is looking to change is from the Ferguson Township line in the west to Windmill Road in the east. The speed limit is currently 55 miles per hour and the township would like to have it lowered to 45 miles per hour.

Township Manager Amy Farkas said the 55 miles per hour speed limit along the road makes it unsafe for people turning onto side roads and private drives and the township has seen an increase in accidents over time.

“We have seen many near misses and some pretty horrific accidents recently,” said Farkas. “It is not safe for people turning on this road with others going the speed they are going.”

The township is appealing to Centre County Municipal Planning Organization to ask for support in order to get the speed limit reduced. The township has been trying to get PennDOT to reduce the limit since 2000, but it said it did not feel the speed needed to be lowered after doing a speed study of the area, said Farkas. So now, Harris Township is working with the MPO to help get PennDOT to lower the limit. Farkas said the township has the support of the State College Police Department because of safety issues that are involved.

The Board of Supervisors discussed the issue on Nov. 12 as it reviewed a letter to be sent to the MPO asking for support during a board meeting. Supervisor Frank Harden said the township has been working for quite some time to get this matter resolved.

“We have been talking to PennDOT, and that is the frustrating part. We have been doing this long before I came on this board. We have been writing letters and trying to get this done,” said Harden.

Of particular concern to the board is the section of the highway that runs past the Village of Shingletown.

“I know when I drive that road and I come to the village of Shingletown, it feels like I need to slow down,” said supervisor Bruce Lord.

“It is odd, because you see a lot of places that are a village like that (Shingletown), on a state road and the speed limit is reduced to 35 for most villages, and yet that is not and has never been,” said board member Nigel Wilson.

“It’s surprising to me that from Spring Mills to Millheim, the last couple of years at least, that entire stretch is posted down from 45 and reduced to 35 by the schools, and yet that is more rural then our section of 45 that we are worried about, so I do not understand how that happened and this happened,’ he added.

“When I turn onto Mountain Road, which I turn in there all the time, I’ve been doing it for years, you put your turn signal on and you hold your breath,” said Harden. “Especially if someone is coming up behind you, you just hold your breath that they slow down and not hit you.”