A question about roads quickly turned into a conversation about the closed portion of Golf Road in Lower Towamensing Township.

During the supervisors meeting Tuesday night a resident asked what the township has decided to do about Golf Road. The section of the road that runs through the Shamrock Golf Club has been closed for several months due to large areas of deterioration in both lanes.

Supervisors’ Chairman Brent Green said, “We tentatively have decided to not repair it due to the costs of the repair. We are not abandoning it or vacating it; we are just not able to fix it.”

Green said that based on road conditions after this past winter, the township’s engineer prioritized certain roads. Although Golf Road is in poor condition, there are no houses along it.

“We evaluated the funds we have, and there’s three roads that we are planning on doing,” Green said. These are South Fireline, Boyer Farm and Dairy roads.

The township plans to do as much of the work internally as possible, but for the rest, it plans to buy the materials and hire a contractor to supply the labor and equipment and do subbase and base repairs.

Golf Road will remain barricaded for now, but it is not closed permanently, Green said.

Dan Conner, the manager of DTA Alliance LLC which operates the sand quarry on the section of Golf Road on the other side of Fireline Road, would like to see the road reopened. He said he knows it has a rough surface, but his trucks use it occasionally.

Conner said boulders painted yellow were placed across the road at the entrances with Fireline and Dairy roads.

Green said the township will send a letter to the adjacent property owner and ask them to remove the boulders.

Green still maintained that the road needs to stay closed. “It’s a hazard in multiple spots,” he said.

“It’s more of a hazard with boulders on it,” Conner said. He thinks people could hit the boulders while attempting to go down the road.

Conner said his company has put gravel in the holes to try to fix it. He doesn’t think closing township roads is the answer to the problem.

Resident Steve Meining said, “Can we all agree that road definitely has to be kept closed. If it isn’t, all those dump trucks are going to be back on there in five seconds. And whatever we do, they’re going to ruin it again.”

Conner suggested closing the road to commercial traffic, but leaving it open for everyone else.

Green said, “The enforcement is the issue the township has with any truck restrictions. We don’t have a local police department to enforce it.”

Closing a road isn’t the solution the township would ordinarily use, but this road doesn’t have any houses on it.

Conner said a road is meant for free passage, not just for access to owned property.

Resident Jean Papay said she used that road daily to get to work. Conner agreed, saying he also used it to get to work.

Green said, “At this point, we have $300,000 to spend on 28 miles of road and there’s no viable solution to repairing that road in the long term without it continuing to deteriorate and cause a liability to the township in the condition it is in regardless if you took your roller out or your loader out to maintain it.”

Meining suggested that the township place concrete barricades across the road.

“The bottom line is that we have to keep heavy duty trucks out of that area,” he said. “You know it’s wrecking Dairy Road, too. Those trucks only should be on state highways.”

The township is looking to fill the roadmaster position. The position is full time and the wage is based on experience. A CDL license is preferred. Call 610-826-2522.