New Sewickley Township. is home to many students and their families, covering about 32.66 square miles with a population of about 7,000 people. Many would describe New Sewickley to be a rural area with many farmlands. One concern many residents have is some of the road intersections in the township. With bad blind spots and higher speed limits, these intersections can sometimes be a recipe for disaster.
Two of the most concerning intersections are where both ends of Taffy Run meet Big Knob Road, and where Brush Creek Road and Route 989 (Glen Eden Road) meet Route 68. Coming off of the north side of Taffy Run onto Big Knob Road can be very dangerous. There is a blind spot on the left side of the stop sign making it hard for drivers to see oncoming traffic. Brush Creek Road holds the same problem. Coming to 68, the left side of the stop sign has a hillside blocking the view of oncoming traffic. The only difference at this intersection is that there is a no-left-turn sign for drivers wanting to turn left off off Brush Creek Road onto Route 68. Both of these intersections have had multiple accidents, several resulting in injury, over the last couple of years. Both Route 68 and Big Knob Road have speed limits of 40 mph. Many people have suggested that drivers need to slow down when approaching these intersections in case of a car pulling out into traffic. However a lot of drivers will still exceed the speed limit, causing these crashes, because they don’t have enough time to stop.
On April 27, an Amazon driver passed the stop sign at the end of Taffy Run taking out two other vehicles on Big Knob Road, injuring both drivers. A home owner’s security camera recorded the accident. Taffy Run’s speed limit is 25 mph. A couple of days later on April 30, an accident occurred at the Route 68 intersection.
After these accidents occurred within days of each other, residents began to take their thoughts to social media. Voicing their concerns about what the community can do to prevent collisions like this in the future, it seems like one of the only solutions is to slow down when approaching these intersections.
With Route 68 and Big Knob Road being state routes, the township board can only do so much, the state would have the authority to make both intersections four-way stops. Looking left off of Brush Creek Road onto Route 68 the hillside blocking the view of oncoming traffic can only be cut back so far before the township is required to buy property from the homeowners on top of the hill. The township board added another speed limit sign to Taffy Run to let drivers know they should not be exceeding 25 mph.
The New Sewickley Township board members, police officers and road workers have met with officials from Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (Penn.DOT) to discuss these safety concerns and what can be done going forward.