Despite complaints about speeding, the 55 mph speed limit along a bustling stretch of roadway in West Penn Township has been deemed suitable by the Pennsylvania State Department of Transportation.

Board Chairman Tony Prudenti said at Monday morning’s meeting that the township received a letter from PennDOT about a 2019 study for the speed limit on Route 895.

“The posted speed limit of 55 mph is appropriate for the roadway and the Department is not in favor of any alterations,” the letter states. “While the Department understands your concerns, we are not an enforcement agency.”

The letter states that PennDOT recommends the township contact the local police department to express any concerns with speeding vehicles on Route 895.

“A Passing Zone Study is being started for your concern to add Do Not Pass Signs where there are double yellow lines toward the intersection of State Route 895 and 309,” the letter states. “If warranted, signs will be installed.”

PennDOT states in the letter that passing on the left is defined in Vehicle Code.

Township police Chief Jim Bonner said that the roadway falls under PennDOT’s jurisdiction; however, the police department monitors it.

Supervisor Glenn Hummel said “we feel it’s hazardous, and there should be a double yellow line (all the way down).”

Last month, resident Larry Stival, of Summer Valley Road, asked supervisors if anything changed concerning the speed limit on Route 895.

Stival asked whether the township could get no passing signs, to which Prudenti said at that time the issue is that it isn’t a township road.

In April 2019, resident Gary Steigerwalt told the board he’d like to see the speed reduced on Route 895.

Township solicitor Paul J. Datte said at that time there were two possibilities: If the homes are along a significant stretch, then the township is permitted to declare it a residential district; other than that, he said the township would need to conduct an engineering study.

Houser said then that he agreed with Steigerwalt that the speed limits on township roads should not be 55 mph.

The board announced earlier that month that a traffic study must be conducted in order for the speed limit to be reduced along Route 895.

Supervisors said the township had received a response from the state Department of Transportation that the township would have to conduct a traffic study for Route 895 and Summer Valley Road.

Nicole Bailey asked supervisors in May 2020 to have the speed limit reduced along that portion of 895.

The township had to tell PennDOT what speed it would like to see it reduced to.

Township secretary Katie Orlick previously said she requested 45 mph and a no passing zone from Route 309 to Dorset Road.

PennDOT said that speed limits are typically established based on recent crash history, as well as the 85th percentile speed, which is the speed at or below which 85 percent of the motorists are driving under normal roadway conditions during daylight hours.

In October, supervisors unanimously adopted a resolution to lower the speed limit to 25 mph on the section of Fort Franklin Drive between Blue Mountain Drive and the Schuylkill County line.

In June, supervisors dropped the speed limit to 25 mph on Zions Stone Church Road.

That came after Datte in May cited a study that was conducted in 2001.

Datte said the vehicle code permits the establishment of a 25 mph speed limit in a residential district if the road is not a numbered traffic route (Zions Stone Church Road is not a numbered traffic route) and is functionally classified by Pennsylvania Department of Transportation.

He said the entire length of Zions Stone Church Road could be classified as a residential district, and a 25 mph speed limit could be established.

A resolution was needed to establish a residential district.