Residents push for traffic study after garage damaged in accident

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Swatara Township residents Mark and Brianna Taylor pushed the Swatara Township Board of Supervisors to request a traffic study from PennDOT for improvements at the state Route 72 and Thompson Avenue intersection after their garage was heavily damaged in a crash – for the third time.

On Aug. 5, a tractor-trailer crashed into the Taylors’ garage after colliding with an SUV that ran a stop sign, FOX43 reported. It was the third time the garage was damaged in an accident and the fourth instance of damage to the property.

Both drivers were taken to the hospital, though no one in the home was injured.

Mark Taylor said the accident occurred while their kids were home and that, had he been at his workbench, he might have been killed in the crash. He said his family has been calling for action for 11 years, and he asked board to submit a written request to PennDOT for a traffic study.

“You know, I’m scared,” said Taylor. “I have no safe space besides my house that hasn’t been hit right now. I would’ve been sitting in that garage in one more hour, sitting at the workbench, doing something.

Supervisor Dean Patches said previous requests from the township to PennDOT have been turned down, adding that he was previously told by engineers a traffic study would cost tens of thousands of dollars and likely not yield results that meet PennDOT’s standards for improvements. PennDOT allots funds to projects and permits improvements based on data including congestion and amount of thoroughfare.

“I don’t recall any one of those safety concerns brought by the residents meeting PennDOT’s criteria for change,” said Patches. “The township’s decision always was, ‘Why spend 10, 20, 30, 40, 50,000 dollars for a study when PennDOT’s gonna say, ‘That doesn’t meet the criteria’?”

“How do you put a number on lives?” Taylor asked Patches in response.

“I gave you the township’s position and the history,” Patches said. “If you wanna play this out in the media, just keep doing what you’re doing. I don’t have anything else to add, we weren’t going to spend thousands of dollars for studies that were going to be turned down and PennDOT was gonna say it doesn’t meet the criteria.”

Dan Bost with state Senator Chris Gebhard’s office said it was free to ask for a traffic study and, since 72 is a state road, the study would also be conducted by PennDOT. He provided the board with a printed copy of an email from a PennDOT traffic engineer stating this.

Taylor said his family is considering moving due to what he called a “refusal to commit funding” for improvements from supervisors. He said he had requested lowered speed limits (with the limit now sitting at 45 mph) and flashing lights on stop sign.

“We can’t stay here,” he said. “It’s a shame, we put money into this home, we made this home beautiful. … If the improvements aren’t gonna happen, I can’t stay there. Where am I going?

“Next it’s gonna be my kids. It’s gonna be somebody, it’s gonna be in my house. Whatever you guys can do, we appreciate it.”

In June 2025, he said, he texted supervisors Rick Kreitzer and Patches with concerns about the height of his neighbor’s bushes adjacent to the stop sign, feeling they obscured the sign. Nothing was done, he said, saying the township code limits fence and hedge height and the bushes are 6 feet tall. (The code limits fences to 3 feet in the front yard and 6 feet along side or rear yards, and cannot obstruct clear sight triangles.)

Kreitzer said that the township does not have the authority to enforce the height of these bushes as they fall within the PennDOT right-of-way. “I honestly don’t think that’s a problem there,” said Kreitzer, saying he travels the intersection six times a week. Kreitzer and Taylor agreed that an electrical pole near the stop sign may also obscure it.

Kreitzer later said the township would give PennDOT suggestions including red flashing lights, a flashing ring of red lights around stop signs, a $750,000 total red light system, or a roundabout (but said PennDOT likely does not have funds for it). He also said the township would recommend PennDOT reapply thermoplastic road markings.

State Rep. Russ Diamond was present and said his office would be supportive of efforts to improve road safety but they would need to start at the township level. He later said no amount of traffic control can prevent a person who is not paying attention from ignoring a red light, which is what he said looked to be the case in a video of the accident. Kreitzer added that the driver was 77 years old.

Though the Taylors requested a resolution, no formal action was taken. However, the board directed township manager Jennifer Harding to email PennDOT to see whether they could look into the bushes.