May 6, 2026 By Conner Goetz 2 min read

The Cecil Board of Supervisors tabled a motion Monday night to authorize township engineer Daniel Deiseroth to conduct a traffic study on the Pennsylvania Route 50 corridor that bisects the rural municipality, opting instead to wait and consider a revised proposal that will include the entire township.

Deiseroth explained that the Route 50 study could have been used to inform the placement transportation impact overlay district on the area, which would have imposed a one-time fee on all future developments along the corridor.

The revenue generated by the fee would be earmarked for road maintenance and related infrastructure enhancements that would offset the increased wear and tear on local roads from growing resident traffic.

Deiseroth said the potential fee would be tied to the amount of estimated daily trips generated by a specific parcel of land, with residential properties typically making around 10 trips per day.

Several municipalities in western Pennsylvania, such as Cranberry Township, already utilize these districts to help fund road projects, Deiseroth said, so there is local precedent for their implementation.

Supervisor Cindy Fisher said if the township was going to approve a traffic study from Gateway Engineers, she would prefer a one-time, comprehensive study of the entire township instead of paying for several smaller “piecemeal” studies to cover the same area over several years.

Deiseroth said the more limited study would cost between $5,000 and $7,000, and could be completed in approximately 45 days.

A full township study would inevitably cost more and take longer to complete.

Since Cecil Township has seen a surge of residential development over recent years, a broad-scope traffic study could be a valuable asset for informing future board action, Fisher said.

The board approved a grant application for a $25,000 Washington County Tourism Promotion Agency grant to fund a renovation of the Cecil Township Jail, which has been unused for over a century.

Fisher said the grant application was spearheaded by members of the Cecil Township Historical Society, who would complete the renovation work on the jail if awarded the grant funding.

The board also approved a $195,500 purchase of a John Deere backhoe and related equipment using capital from the township’s Roadway Machinery Fund, which held just under $1 million before the acquisition.