PennDOT: Roundabouts continue reducing injuries and crashes in Pa.
Sep. 28—WILKES-BARRE — The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) this week announced that at locations where traditional intersections were replaced with roundabouts, crashes involving injuries were reduced by 51% and the total number of crashes were reduced by 7%.
PennDOT reported that during the 20-year review period, there have been two fatalities at roundabouts on state routes.
"Roundabouts have proven to be an irreplaceable tool in reducing crashes at intersections," said PennDOT Secretary Mike Carroll. "Given the dramatic increase in safety and traffic flow, PennDOT will continue evaluating intersections for roundabouts."
PennDOT evaluated 47 roundabouts on state routes at intersections that were previously stop- or signal-controlled with at least three years of crash data available before and after the roundabouts were built and had at least one crash during the 20-year review period.
In addition to the roundabouts that met the selection criteria, 46 additional roundabouts have been built on state routes.
PennDOT said that roundabouts are frequently installed to address safety issues, calm traffic and improve traffic flow, and beautify an intersection. Although roundabouts are typically safer and more efficient than traditional signalized intersections, they may not always be the best option due to topography or for other reasons, such as property impacts and capacity issues.
Luzerne County statistics
PennDOT reviewed the Luzerne County roundabout crash data, which included the single lane roundabouts at the following locations:
—Middle Road & Espy Street in Hanover Township
—Middle Road & Kosciuszko Street in the City of Nanticoke
—Middle Road & Prospect Street in the City of Nanticoke
—Church Street/Lake Street/Main Street in Dallas Borough
Crash data included a minimum of three years before the roundabouts were constructed and the same time-frame after the roundabout installation.
For the single lane roundabouts, there were as follows:
—Suspected serious injuries: 2 before and 0 after
—Suspected minor injuries: 6 before and 3 after
—Possible injuries: 47 before and 3 after
—Property damage only crashes: 29 before and 20 after
—Total crashes: 84 before and 26 after
Airport roundabout study
For the multi-lane roundabouts at the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton International Airport, PennDOT reported an increase in all the criteria as follows:
—Suspected serious injuries: 0 before to 1 after
—Suspected minor injuries: 2 before to 5 after
—Possible injury: 1 before to 4 after
—Property damage only: 0 before to 19 after
—Total crashes: 3 before to 29 after
PennDOT's Central Office has a consultant engineer on-board to study the airport roundabouts to determine the cause of the increase and provide possible recommendations. PennDOT has no time-frame on when that will be completed.
The other eight new roundabouts included in this year's review are at the following intersections:
Adams County
—Route 94 and Stoney Point Road.
Cumberland County
—Route 1011 (Lambs Gap Road) and Bali Hai Road.
Route 2017 (Lisburn Road) and Rossmoyne Road.
Lancaster County
—Route 772 (Rothsville Road) and 6th Street Extension.
—Route 4022 (Woodcrest Avenue) and West 6th Street.
Mercer County
—Route 62 and Shenango Valley Mall.
Philadelphia County
—Route 2007 (Frankford Avenue), York Street and Trenton Avenue.
Washington County
—Route 1009 (Morganza Road) and Baker Road.
Additional roundabouts included in this review and information pertaining to roundabouts can be found on the PennDOT website including an educational video on how to navigate both single and multi-lane roundabouts whether in a vehicle, on a bicycle or on foot. The video can also be viewed on PennDOT's YouTube channel.
Roundabouts are recognized by the Pennsylvania State Transportation Innovation Council (STIC) as an innovation that has become standard practice within the transportation community.
Resolution demands accountability for Afghanistan withdrawal tragedy
U.S. Rep. Dan Meuser, R-Dallas, voted in favor of H.Res. 1469 — a House resolution demanding accountability from key officials in the Biden-Harris administration for their decision-making during the Afghanistan withdrawal.
The resolution states that, "throughout the Biden-Harris administration, key White House, National Security Council, Department of State, and Department of Defense officials prioritized the politics and optics of the withdrawal from Afghanistan over the security of United States personnel and civilians on the ground and failed to plan for foreseeable contingencies, causing a chaotic, precipitous withdrawal."
The withdrawal ultimately led to the loss of 13 U.S. service members and left 45 others wounded in the Abbey Gate suicide bomber attack on Aug. 26, 2021. Additionally, the Biden-Harris administration left behind billions of dollars in U.S. military resources, now being used by the Taliban.
"The American people deserve accountability for the disastrous U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan, which cost 13 brave U.S. service members their lives." Meuser said. "Three years ago, the Biden-Harris administration's reckless exit handed the Taliban not only control of Afghanistan, but also allowed billions of dollars of American military equipment to fall into their hands, strengthening and emboldening the terror group. And since that time, the United States has continued to provide billions in humanitarian aid to the Taliban, even as they unlawfully detain Americans like Ryan Corbett, who grew up in Susquehanna County. The Biden-Harris administration must take responsibility for their deadly blunder to ensure the same mistakes are not made again."
H.Res.1469 was agreed to in the House by a vote of 219 — 194.
Work to return unclaimed military decorations recognized
Treasurer Stacy Garrity this week announced that the Pennsylvania Treasury Department's initiative to return unclaimed military decorations is now featured on MissingMoney.com — a national database where individuals can easily search for unclaimed property in almost every state.
MissingMoney.com is maintained by the National Association of Unclaimed Property Administrators.
"Returning military decorations is a personal mission for me," said Treasurer Garrity, a 30-year veteran who retired as a colonel from the U.S. Army Reserves. "And I'm blessed to have staff who make it their personal mission as well. Everyone at Treasury wants to honor the veterans who made sacrifices on behalf of all Americans, and my team consistently goes above and beyond. They're detectives, like the hard-nosed gumshoes from old noir movies who just won't quit. Their hearts overflow with compassion for the veterans who earned these medals and their families, and I'm tremendously proud of their hard work. It's gratifying to have that work recognized on MissingMoney.com ."
To date, Treasury has returned 732 military decorations. Treasurer Garrity has returned 434 decorations, including 11 Purple Hearts and three Bronze Stars. Treasury is working to return an additional 450 decorations which are currently in the vault.
Most often, military decorations come to Treasury from abandoned safe deposit boxes. State law requires businesses to report unclaimed property to Treasury after three years of dormancy.
Suite of bills introduced to expand access to community college
U.S. Sen. Bob Casey, D-Scranton, this week introduced a suite of bills to strengthen American community colleges and make their programs more accessible and valuable for students.
Two of the bills would spur investment in new and existing community college infrastructure in underserved areas.
The package also includes the Correctly Recognizing Educational Achievements to Empower (CREATE) Graduates Act, which would resolve an issue preventing some community college students from receiving degrees for which they have completed the requirements.
"Community college programs help young Americans compete for jobs, earn higher wages, and build brighter futures," said Sen. Casey. "I introduced these bills to expand access to community college and ensure students can fully take advantage of the benefits these programs have to offer. I will always fight to make sure every young American has access to the education they need to reach their full potential."
More than two-thirds of jobs in the modern economy require some education and training beyond high school, but many Americans lack access to affordable, quality post-secondary education.
Approximately 35 million people, or 10% of the country's population, live in education deserts: areas with zero or only one public broad-access college nearby. The legislative package Casey introduced today would invest in new community college infrastructure in these areas, while also bolstering existing programs around the country.
—The Funding Community College Infrastructure Act would create a $10 billion grant program within the Department of Education to invest in expanding community college access.
—The Community College Infrastructure Financing Act would create a bond program to provide interest-free financing for community colleges.
Reach Bill O'Boyle at 570-991-6118 or on Twitter
