Hilltown pushes back on PennDOT plan that would double traffic on Fairhill Road

Hilltown has requested revisions to the design of a PennDOT project that would more than double traffic on Fairhill Road, according to a traffic study.

Hilltown officials sent a letter to State Rep. Shelby Labs in June asking for help with two problems the township identified with the third phase of PennDOT's project to improve connections between Route 63 and Route 309. PennDOT has almost finished designing the third phase, which would add a new roundabout and traffic ramps at the Fairhill Road overpass.

The township said that the changes would add "significant traffic" to Fairhill Road and Keystone Drive, and requested that PennDOT add a cul-de-sac by the bridge that would bypass Fairhill Road. The township also wrote that a roundabout planned for Bethlehem Pike and County Line Road as part of the project would interfere with sewer access for a local business, the Indian Valley Campground Center.

PennDOT responded to Labs in a letter dated July 18, writing that the traffic increase on Fairhill Road, from 2,400 to an estimated 5,500 vehicles per day, would come from drivers choosing to take the more direct routes that the new project would create, rather than spending more time on longer nearby routes. Diverting the traffic would lead to longer trips for drivers on other roads, PennDOT said.

As for the campground center, PennDOT wrote that the alternative to a roundabout, which would involve re-aligning County Line Road for a traffic signal, would also impact the business. Sewer extensions are the responsibility of the municipality, PennDOT said, but that the department would support efforts to extend the sewer.

The first phase of the connector project around Sumneytown Pike and I-476 near Harleysville is complete, according to the project website. Construction on the second phase, near Hatfield and Franconia, is currently underway. The third phase of the connector project is expected to begin in 2027, and finish in 2030, with successive nearby road closures throughout the construction process.

The third phase of the connector project is part of PennDOT's pilot program to introduce 3-D digital modeling for its projects.

Reporter Jess Rohan can be reached at jrohan@gannett.com