Specific Hill Church Road traffic safety project improvements revealed

LebTown has learned specific details about the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation’s planned traffic improvement project at the intersection of Hill Church Road and Thompson Avenue in North Annville Township.

Although no timetable or cost is available yet for the project that is slated for the 2026 construction season, LebTown has been provided with initial design information for improvements to the hazardous intersection. (The project is also not expected to be delayed due to the recent closure of Clear Spring Road.)

Read More: Bridge closure in N. Annville Twp. shouldn’t impact Hill Church Road project

Dave Thompson, spokesman for PennDOT’s District 8, said one of the major improvements will be to improve limited sight distances when approaching the intersection. Vehicles attempting to turn from Thompson Avenue onto Hill Church Road have limited sight lines of other travelers heading west on Hill Church Road due to a hill that obstructs the view.

“The vertical curve on the east leg of Hill Church Road is anticipated to be lowered by approximately 4′-5′ and will improve sight distance for vehicles traveling along Hill Church Road,” Thompson wrote in an email.

In addition to reducing that hill, banks along Thompson Avenue will be reduced, according to Thompson. 

“Lowering the vertical curve on Hill Church Road crosses the intersection with Thompson Avenue, and results in lowering Thompson Avenue approximately 2′-3′,” Thompson wrote.

LebTown previously reported other improvements there when the new plan was released near the end of April. 

Those changes consist of the installation of an all-way stop intersection and an intersection control beacon (i.e. overhead flashing red light), and roadway rumble strips on all approaches to the intersection, plus lowering the vertical curve along the east leg of Hill Church Road. Roadway widths and shoulders will be widened to PennDOT standards.

Concerning the rumble strips, Thompson said PennDOT has standards for their placement: “Five (5) sets of rumble strips (15 to 20 strips in each set) are placed within 600 feet of the intersection in all four directions.”

This plan is the second one to be proposed by PennDOT. 

The initial plan would have required a portion of a nearby farm that is the farmland preservation program to be taken via eminent domain and the roadway built up instead of the hill being reduced. Public comment and input from the North Annville Township supervisors concerning the first plan led the state to revise it to the current version.

A digital version of the new information for this project is available to view online through May 30. Project documents can be made available in alternative languages or formats by contacting project manager Dan Rocuskie at (717) 705-6181 or drocuskie@pa.gov.

Local reaction to the current plan is generally positive. 

As township supervisor Aaron Miller noted, PennDOT listened to the public’s concerns, especially concerning the taking of preserved farmland.

“I think they listened to what the residents had asked for and gave the residents what they had asked for,” Miller said. “My one concern is that the residents who asked for this don’t realize that rumble strips make noise.” 

North Annville Township supervisor and board chairman Clyde Meyer said he was “pretty well satisfied with the latest safety improvement plan.”

“If they cut that knob down, I think it should work. Their first proposal was way overkill. When they came to us back a year or year and half ago and we said we thought that they should cut it (the knob) down, but we never dreamt of anything like that coming with what they eventually came with,” he said. 

Hill Church Road resident Dawn Arnold said she likes the new plan. Arnold’s home is located about a tenth of a mile west of the intersection.

“Hopefully, it slows them down,” said Arnold, who LebTown previously reported watching speeding cars traveling eastbound on Hill Church Road past a digital speed alert sign posted near her home. 

Arnold still wishes PennDOT would lower the speed limit at the intersection. Thompson told LebTown, however, the state agency has no plans to conduct a speed study along Hill Church Road.

“As my husband and I are out and about, there are other roads where the speed is less,” Arnold said. “Over on Colebrook Road going to the fairgrounds, that road is only 40.”

Ultimately, however, she’s happy with the latest plan.

“I am happier, though, putting a four-way stop up than cutting off the farmland and making a turning lane. I don’t feel that would slow anyone down. I feel the four-way stop will slow them down at least for a little bit. If anyone doesn’t like that situation, they can pick a different route, which is okay with me.”

Meyer said it’s the state’s decision to lower the speed limit, which is something he would also like to see happen.

“I’d be fine with having it reduced, but they said their study on the accident reports shows there haven’t been enough accidents, and so it (the speed limit) doesn’t need to be reduced,” Meyer said. “I know they drive fast on that road because I travel it too at times and I have been passed going east on Hill Church Road.”

He said Hill Church Road is especially bad during morning and evening rush hours. 

“In the morning it is really bad because people are using that as a bypass to avoid Annville to go to work. They take Hill Church Road and then Palmyra/Bellegrove Road all the way up through to Hershey to bypass Annville and Palmyra,” Meyer said. “And I’ll tell you they’re moving (fast) on there.” 

Jennifer Benoit, who lives on Thompson Avenue, said she generally goes out of her way to avoid the intersection in its current form. She is cautiously optimistic about PennDOT improving the intersection.

“Right now you have a blind spot when you come over that hill, you see nothing,” Benoit said. “(This plan) Sounds all good, but I have to see it to believe it. The best solution will be to shave it (the hill) down.”

When the intersection is eventually closed, traffic using Hill Church Road will be redirected onto Center Street, Route 422, and Bellegrove Road, according to a PennDOT press release. Traffic using Thompson Avenue will be detoured onto Waterworks Way, Ono Road, a short section of Hill Church Road, and Bellegrove Road, according to PennDOT.