Sep. 28—WILKES-BARRE — The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) announced this week that in locations where traditional intersections were replaced with roundabouts, injury crashes were reduced by 51% and total crashes decreased by 7%.
PennDOT reported that there were two fatalities at roundabouts on state routes during the 20-year assessment period.
“Roundabouts have proven to be an irreplaceable tool in reducing intersection crashes,” said PennDOT Secretary Mike Carroll. “Given the dramatic increase in safety and traffic flow, PennDOT will continue to evaluate intersections for roundabouts.”
PennDOT evaluated 47 roundabouts on state routes at intersections previously controlled by stop or signals, where at least three years of crash data were available before and after the roundabouts were constructed and at least one crash occurred during the 20-year assessment period.
In addition to the roundabouts that met the selection criteria, 46 additional roundabouts have been constructed on national routes.
PennDOT said roundabouts are often installed to address safety concerns, calm traffic, improve traffic flow and beautify an intersection. While roundabouts are generally safer and more efficient than traditional signalized intersections, they may not always be the best option due to topography or other reasons such as property impacts and capacity issues.
Luzerne County Statistics
PennDOT reviewed Luzerne County roundabout crash data, including the single-lane roundabouts at the following locations:
—Middle Road and Espy Street in Hanover Township
—Middle Road and Kosciuszko Street in the City of Nanticoke
—Middle Road & Prospect Street in the City of Nanticoke
—Church Street/Lake Street/Main Street in the Dallas area
The accident data covers a period of at least three years before the construction of the roundabout and the same time period after the construction of the roundabout.
The following applied to the single-lane roundabouts:
—Suspected serious injury: 2 before and 0 after
—Probably minor injuries: 6 before and 3 after
—Possible injuries: 47 before and 3 after
—Material damage only crashes: 29 before and 20 after
—Total number of crashes: 84 before and 26 after
Research into airport roundabouts
For the multi-lane roundabouts at Wilkes-Barre/Scranton International Airport, PennDOT reported an increase in all criteria as follows:
—Suspected serious injury: 0 before to 1 after
—Probably minor injuries: 2 before to 5 after
—Possible injuries: 1 before to 4 after
—Property damage only: 0 before to 19 after
—Total number of crashes: 3 before to 29 after
PennDOT’s central office has a consultant engineer on board to examine the airport roundabouts to determine the cause of the increase and make possible recommendations. PennDOT has no timetable for when that will be completed.
The remaining eight new roundabouts included in this year’s assessment are located at the following intersections:
Adam’s county
—Route 94 and Stoney Point Road.
Cumberland County
—Route 1011 (Lambs Gap Road) and Bali Hai Road.
Route 2017 (Lisburn Road) and Rossmoyne Road.
Lancaster County
—Route 772 (Rothsville Road) and 6th Street Extension.
—Route 4022 (Woodcrest Avenue) and West 6th Street.
Mercer County
—Route 62 and Shenango Valley Mall.
Philadelphia county
—Route 2007 (Frankford Avenue), York Street and Trenton Avenue.
Washington County
—Route 1009 (Morganza Road) and Baker Road.
Additional roundabouts included in this overview and information regarding roundabouts can be found on the PennDOT website, including an educational video on how to navigate both single and multi-lane modes whether in a vehicle, bicycle or on foot. The video can also be viewed on PennDOT’s YouTube channel.
Roundabouts are recognized by the Pennsylvania State Transportation Innovation Council (STIC) as an innovation that has become standard practice within the transportation community.
Resolution demands responsibility for the tragedy of Afghanistan’s withdrawal
U.S. Rep. Dan Meuser, R-Dallas, voted in favor of H.Res. 1469 – a House resolution demanding key officials in the Biden-Harris administration be held accountable for their decision-making during the withdrawal from Afghanistan.
The resolution states that “across the Biden-Harris administration, key officials from the White House, National Security Council, Department of State, and Department of Defense prioritized the politics and optics of withdrawal from Afghanistan over security of US personnel and civilians on the ground and failed to plan for foreseeable contingencies, causing a chaotic, hasty withdrawal.
The withdrawal ultimately led to the loss of 13 U.S. service members and 45 others injured in the Abbey Gate suicide bombing on August 26, 2021. Additionally, the Biden-Harris administration left behind billions of dollars in U.S. military assets. used by the Taliban.
“The American people deserve responsibility for the disastrous U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan, which has cost the lives of thirteen brave American service members.” said Meuser. “Three years ago, the reckless departure of the Biden-Harris administration not only gave the Taliban control of Afghanistan, but also placed billions of dollars in U.S. military equipment into their hands, strengthening and emboldening the terrorist group. The United States has continued to provide billions in humanitarian aid to the Taliban even as they unlawfully detain Americans like Ryan Corbett, who grew up in Susquehanna County. The Biden-Harris administration must take responsibility for their deadly blunder to ensure the same mistakes are not made again.”
H.Res.1469 passed in the House by a vote of 219 to 194.
Work to return unclaimed military awards is recognized
Treasurer Stacy Garrity announced this week that the Pennsylvania Treasury Department’s initiative to return unclaimed military decorations can now be seen on MissingMoney.com – a national database where individuals in almost every state can easily search for unclaimed property to search.
MissingMoney.com is maintained by the National Association of Unclaimed Property Administrators.
“Restoring military awards is a personal mission for me,” said Treasurer Garrity, a 30-year veteran who retired as a colonel in the U.S. Army Reserves. ‘And I am blessed to have employees who also make it their personal mission. Everyone at the Treasury Department wants to honor the veterans who have made sacrifices on behalf of all Americans, and my team consistently goes above and beyond. They are detectives, like the hard-boiled gumshoes from old noir films who just won’t stop sympathizing with the veterans who earned these medals and their families, and I’m extremely proud of their hard work to have that work recognized on MissingMoney.com .”
To date, the Treasury Department has returned 732 military awards. Treasurer Garrity has returned 434 awards, including 11 Purple Hearts and three Bronze Stars. The Treasury Department is working to return an additional 450 decorations currently in the vault.
Military awards usually come to the Treasury from abandoned lockers. State law requires companies to report unclaimed property to the Treasury Department after three years of dormancy.
Series of bills introduced to expand access to community college
U.S. Sen. Bob Casey, D-Scranton, introduced a series of bills this week to strengthen America’s community colleges and make their programs more accessible and valuable to students.
Two of the bills would encourage investments in new and existing community college infrastructure in underserved areas.
The package also includes the Correctly Recognizing Educational Achievements to Empower (CREATE) Graduates Act, which would solve an issue that prevents some community college students from earning a degree for which they have completed the requirements.
“Community college programs help young Americans compete for jobs, earn higher wages and build a better future,” said Senator Casey. “I introduced these bills to expand access to community colleges and ensure that students can take full advantage of the benefits these programs have to offer. I will always fight to ensure that every young American has access to the education they need to reach their full potential. “
More than two-thirds of jobs in the modern economy require some education and training beyond high school, but many Americans do not have access to affordable, high-quality postsecondary education.
About 35 million people, or 10% of the country’s population, live in education deserts: areas with zero or only one public university with broad access nearby. The legislative package Casey introduced today would invest in new infrastructure for community colleges in these areas, while strengthening existing programs across the country.
—The Funding Community College Infrastructure Act would create a $10 billion grant program within the Department of Education to invest in expanding access to community colleges.
—The Community College Infrastructure Financing Act would create a bond program to provide interest-free financing for community colleges.
Reach Bill O’Boyle at 570-991-6118 or on Twitter @TLBillOBoyle.
