Nov 4, 2013 2 min read

The intersection that PennDOT wants to replace with a roundabout would be better served by a traffic light.

Backups during the evening rush hour are caused by traffic traveling south on Route 519 from Canonsburg having to cross over traffic traveling north on Route 519 from Eighty Four toward Canonsburg. Traffic entering the intersection from Thomas-Eighty Four Road is also included. No matter how many roundabouts there are, the spot where traffic crosses without stopping will be where traffic begins to back up and accidents will occur.

In the morning rush hour, backups occur at the intersection when traffic traveling on Brownlee Road from the Dunningsville exit toward Canonsburg and Thomas-Eighty Four Road try to merge onto Route 519 with that same traffic that travels north along Route 519 from Eighty Four towards Canonsburg.

A traffic light at that intersection will stop the traffic traveling north on Route 519 from Eighty Four so that traffic to and from Brownlee and Thomas-Eighty Four roads can safely pass through the intersection.

But safety is not an issue at this intersection with PennDOT. Representatives for PennDOT said so at an informational meeting in North Strabane Township. It is traffic flow.

There are two assumptions necessary for roundabouts to work. The first is that traffic will slow down as it approaches the roundabout. The second is that traffic will yield. The second is important. Traffic does not always yield at that intersection.

Unfortunately, you sometimes need to make traffic stop. It is one of those necessary evils. A traffic light will do that. Traffic passing through a roundabout will not.

Jim Wagner

Eighty Four