Chestnuthill met with Pennsylvania Department of Transportation representatives this week about the project to realign routes 209 and 115, by adding roundabouts.

Last year, PennDOT announced the plan to realign the intersection in Chestnuthill Township.Donald Lerch of Rummel, Klepper and Kahl, the company designing the project, met with township officials this week.According to Lerch, the project has an approved preliminary design plan and will begin working on right-of-way acquisitions this fall.Lerch was joined by Kerry Cox, the PennDOT project manager.The plan calls for two roundabouts to be constructed on Route 209. The larger of the two will be where the two roads currently merge. The smaller roundabout will be at the entrance to Pleasant Valley High School.The most recent traffic studies performed by PennDOT show that an average of 16,659 vehicles travel Route 209 daily in the area where the roundabouts will be placed. An average 13,603 vehicles travel Route 115 daily.Roads impactedLerch gave a brief overview of the project and pointed out certain concerns that will impact several township roads during various stages of construction.A list of these areas of concern was given to the township for its input and suggestions regarding possible detours.Roads that will be impacted during construction include Rodenbach Lane, Marion Lane, Switzgable Drive and Pleasant Valley Lane."These roads could be shut down and a detour put into place, which would take about a week," Lerch said. "We also have the option to do this work overnight instead of having a detour. The issue with this approach is that it will take about three weeks and the end product isn't as good since it is not all being paved at one time."All of the work on 209 and 115 will be done with flaggers. No detours are expected.The township was also given sample agreements for roundabout maintenance, signal, signs and road marking agreements."I pretty much see us saying no to the signage and road marking maintenance agreement," said Chairman Chuck Gould. "Maintaining the landscaping in the circle is one thing, but I don't see us agreeing to the sign and line painting."Vice Chairman Chris Eckert pointed out that with 156 miles of township roads, Chestnuthill is fifth in the state in mileage."We have enough line painting and liability already," Eckert said.Another area of concern is sidewalks. Gould pointed out that during a meeting last year with PennDOT and the Pleasant Valley School District, there was an agreement that the district's property would be lined with sidewalks on both sides.The plan delivered by Lerch did not have sidewalks along the Route 115 corridor.Lights and sidewalksLerch pointed to a number of reasons why the sidewalks were removed from the plan."Who do we have to talk with to get this back into the plan?" Gould asked.Cox agreed to set up a meeting between the district and the township with PennDOT to discuss the subject further.Eckert also asked if the township would have input into the design of the lighting and style of the fixtures to be used."We envision this area becoming a sort of town center," Eckert said. "We would like to see lanterns or something along that line rather than the cobra style of streetlight."According to Lerch, some of the major property acquisitions have already begun. There will be 43 properties that will be impacted by the right-of-way. Some of these are residential, but the majority are commercial.Most significantly will be the Rite Aid. PennDOT is already in the process of acquiring the entire parcel since it sits directly in the path of the realignment. Lerch said that the main entrance into the Rite Aid parking lot is sitting roughly in the middle of the larger roundabout.Lerch said seven properties will lose parking spaces. Some of those properties will no longer meet the township's zoning ordinance for use as a commercial property.Lerch was unable to name the properties since he has not confirmed that there is an issue with the township's zoning officer and since the property owners have not been notified yet.One property will lose its septic system. Lerch said PennDOT may have no choice but to purchase some of these properties outright.There are quite a few of the 43 properties that will only be affected during the construction phases.The total estimated cost of construction is $14 million. The cost for relocation utilities is expected to be $800,000 and the right-of-way acquisitions are expected to cost $5 million."Once the right-of-way acquisitions start it usually takes about a year until that process is complete," Lerch said. "We would expect to start construction in March or April of 2019 for the first construction season."Lerch expects the project to take two to three years to complete. The construction along the school district's property will be restricted to between June and August.