PennDOT reconsiders N. Annville Twp. intersection traffic improvement plan

A planned Pennsylvania Department of Transportation highway construction project at the intersection of Hill Church Road and Thompson Avenue in North Annville Township has hit a temporary roadblock.

Following the end of the public comment period, which ran through March 14, PennDOT is reconsidering its announced preferred option, according to David Thompson, PennDOT’s District 8 spokesman. The intersection is being targeted for safety improvements due to numerous accidents there.

“We have reviewed the comments and are currently looking at other alternatives to the proposed design,” Thompson said in an email to LebTown, noting they are reconsidering their original plan because of “comments received during the public comment period. The comments were related to impacts to the Hoffman farm.” 

The prior proposal, which was projected to cost $2.03 million, would have cut a swath through preserved farmland owned by Jim Hoffman, realigning Hill Church Road onto his farm and elevating the roadway to 10.5 feet. 

Hoffman told LebTown he believed there would be an even bigger impact to his operation beyond the few acres required for the new raised roadway due to water runoff.

LebTown asked Thompson if the nearby Greis farm, south of Hill Church Road across from Hoffman’s land, was being considered instead for the project. 

Becky Greis, along with Hoffman and his daughter, attended the March 20 meeting of Lebanon County Commissioners to share their concerns over lost farmland and safety. The Greis family also owns farmland that abuts Thompson Avenue on the north side of Hill Church Road where Hoffman’s land ownership ends.

They, like other residents along Hill Church Road, are concerned about speeding on the roadway, which is posted at 45 mph. Thompson previously told LebTown that PennDOT had no plans to lower the speed limit there.

“We think it is going to cause an increase in speed and create dangerous conditions along the remainder of the road,” Greis told commissioners. Hill Church Road is about 3 miles long.

Greis told LebTown that she was told by PennDOT officials that they were looking to realign the road onto their land instead of Hoffman’s since his farm is preserved. The Greis farm is not in the county’s farmland preservation program, she added.

Greis said her family is worried the project would bring the highway in “dangerous proximity” to their farm buildings. The home that is on their property is a rental unit and sits close to farm buildings on the south side of Hill Church Road by the intersection.  

In response to LebTown concerning her comment, Thompson wrote that “any alternatives the department is looking at will be to minimize right-of-way acquisitions to neighboring properties.” 

During the meeting, commissioners told the trio that while they sympathize with their situation, the roadway is state-owned and sits within North Annville Township, meaning their assistance was limited. Several other meeting attendees spoke up to say they believe the taking of any farmland via eminent domain is wrong since it is used to produce food.

Last year, PennDOT presented three solutions to township supervisors but without any preliminary drawings for them to review, according to township secretary-treasurer Adam Wolfe. The solutions offered by PennDOT at that time were the highway realignment plan, installation of four-way stop signs or construction of a roundabout.

The supervisors had announced at prior township meetings that they selected the highway realignment sight unseen because they were told the four-way stops were the least safe solution following a PennDOT traffic study of that intersection.

During the March 10 supervisors meeting, numerous individuals spoke out against PennDOT’s original proposal, calling for four-way stops being installed and the speed limit lowered on Hill Church Road. 

Some called for the speed limit to be lowered while others wanted the speed limit lowered along with a four-way stop and flashing lights, rumble strips leading up to the stop signs and a few other changes to the landscape.

Hill Church Road resident Steve Bauman’s property, north of Hill Church Road and west of Thompson Avenue, would be drastically altered if a roundabout was installed there. He told LebTown in an article published on March 13 that he informed PennDOT that he supports a roundabout being constructed at that intersection.

He said he supports that option in the name of safety despite the alterations a roundabout would bring to his property. A number of vehicles have come to rest in front of his house after crashing at the intersection.

On March 25, the North Annville supervisors submitted a letter by Wolfe on township letterhead requesting an alternate solution be considered. Wolfe told LebTown after the March meeting that supervisors unanimously agreed that the highway realignment proposal was an excessive solution because it required using preserved farmland.

Township supervisors letter to PennDOT

The letter asks the transportation agency to consider a 6- to 12-month trial period involving four-way stops along with eight other recommended improvements they believe will improve safety at the hazardous intersection. 

Thompson confirmed that the agency has received the letter, adding that “any correspondence is being taken under consideration.” He added that PennDOT “hopes to have something to present in the coming weeks,” although he did not say when.

In the meantime, Hoffman said he’s grateful that the community responded to voice their opposition to using eminent domain to take preserved farmland. While the issue is still unresolved, Hoffman said he’s been told by a staff member in state Sen. Chris Gebhard’s office that “PennDOT might have had a change of heart” and that “he was glad to hear it.”

“I was told that they are definitely looking at some different plans and different solutions to minimize the impact of that prior proposal on our farm,” Hoffman said. “And we’re anxiously waiting to hear what the solution might be. It’s our feeling – and from those who have told us that they feel the same way – that the taking of preserved farmland should be the last resort.”