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Roadmaster Reports to the Board of Supervisors
August September October November December
September 8, 2003
I completed the Agility Agreement with PennDOT. Presently, we will be doing the roadside mowing along the state roads and PennDOT will be striping our roads. Additional work may be added on either side as it becomes necessary or cost effective.
During August, we continued to repair and replace traffic signs as needed. The roadside mowing is nearly finished for Township roads and is underway on PennDOT roads.
Several dead trees have been removed along with dead branches that were hanging over our roadways. Also, several trees fell partially blocking roads.
I have been working with the PUC, PennDOT, and the contractors to check the intersections of Yellow Springs and Morehall Roads, Whitehorse and Morehall Roads, Charlestown, State and Morehall Roads and Phoenixville Pike as well as Warner Lane and Phoenixville Pike for timing, traffic counts and emergency and railroad preemption. The railroad signals at Buckwalter Road were malfunctioning.
The intersection improvements at the Charlestown Road / Phoenixville Pike / Warner Lane / Yellow Springs Road area appear to be nearing completion.
Route 401 will continue to be closed between Newcomen Road and Phoenixville Pike for sewer line installation. The road is closed from 9am to 3pm Monday through Friday and 7am through 5pm on Saturday until October.
I am continuing to review the township roads for deficiencies or necessary improvements. The reflective bar installation on critical stop-sign posts is continuing. Painting of stop-bars at the stop signs will begin soon.
Road materials status:
| Material | Jun 30, 03 | Received | Used | Jul 31, 03 | On order |
| Anti-skid | 39 | 0 | 0 | 39 | 0 |
| Road salt | 39 | 0 | 0 | 39 | 0 |
| Totals | 78 | 0 | 0 | 78 | 0 |
| Cold Patch | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Note: Numbers are tons and are approximate. |
Respectfully submitted,
Frederick C. Alston
Roadmaster
October 9, 2003
The storms of September, Henri and Isabel, caused minor flooding and brought down numerous wires and trees which forced the closing of virtually every major and most minor roads in the township at one time or another. I would like to thank PennDOT, PECO Energy, Verizon, East Whiteland Township Volunteer Fire Association, Kimberton Fire Company, Schuylkill Township Police and public works departments, Pennsylvania State Police, CM Jones, Inc., Melchiorre Construction Co. and all of the individuals in the township who pitched in during a very difficult two weeks. This list is certainly not complete or is it arranged in any particular order. A partial list of the roads that were affected is attached.
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The following roads were affected by these storms during September, 2003:
09/14/03
| Lincoln Road | Flooding - road closed |
| Union Hill Road | Flooding and washout |
| Buckwalter Road | Washout |
09/18/03
| Hollow and Yellow Springs Roads | Tree on wires - road closed |
| Valley Hill Road near Bodine Road | Tree on wires - road closed |
| Union Hill Road near Whitehorse Rd | Tree - road closed |
| Union Hill Road near Aldham Rd | Tree - road closed |
| Rees Road near Black Stone Lane | Tree - road partially closed |
| Howells Road near Rees Road | Tree - road closed |
| State Road near Dickson Drive | Tree - road partially closed |
| Wells Road | Wires - wires removed and road opened |
| Foster Road | Tree - road closed |
| Conestoga Road | Tree - road partially closed |
| Traffic lights out at Conestoga and Valley Hill Roads until 09/22/03 |
09/19/03
| Foster Road | 2 trees - road closed |
| Pikeland Road | 2 trees - road partially closed |
| Charlestown Road | 5 trees - road closed |
| Rees Road | Tree |
| Mine Road | 2 trees on wires - road partially closed |
| Buckwalter Road | Tree on wires - road closed |
| Bell Circle | Tree - road partially closed |
| Howells Road | Tree on wires - road closed |
| Union Hill Road | Tree- road partially closed |
09/20/03
| Rees Road | Tree on wires - road closed |
| Mine Road | Tree |
| Howells Road | PECO cleared tree |
| Mine Road | PECO cleared trees |
| Buckwalter Road | PECO cleared trees |
| Charlestown Road | PennDOT cleared trees |
| Rees Road | Verizon helped clear road |
There were many other trees, trees and wires, and wires incidents that were attended to by PECO, Verizon, homeowners, PennDOT, contractors and myself.
Route 401 (Conestoga Road) is scheduled to be reopened fully the week of October 13, 2003.
Dead tree and limb removal is ongoing. There are still several large trees that have been identified for removal including those on Sycamore Lane. That work will probably be completed this month.
I have completed a traffic volume study for Union Hill Road (morning rush hour). The results of that study will be formalized and distributed to the Board of Supervisors but the general numbers indicate that for a two-hour rush-hour period from 0700 to 0900 hours on October 8, 2003 there were 602 vehicles that traved south for an average of 301 per hour or about 5 per minute. Northbound travel included 21 vehicles for an average of 10 per hour or 1 vehicle every 6 minutes. These numbers appear to be significantly lower than previous counts. I believe that this reduction is due to the intersection improvements at Charlestown, State, Morehall, Whitehorse and Yellow Springs Roads and Warner Lane.
We are continuing to replace road signs, particularly road name signs, as necessary. We have made necessary repairs on head walls and cross pipes on Buckwalter Road and have replaced a crushed crosspipe and installed an inlet at Hilltop and Benburb Roads. The scheduled maintenance items remaining open are correcting the drainage problem at Marion and Tyrone Roads, base repair and repaving of Academic Way (the total cost will be shared with the Valley Forge Christian College), base and curb repair and repaving on Aldham Road, repaving Union Hill Road from State Road to the Markley barn, curb repair on Howell Road due to the storms and several other minor inlet repair projects.
The road mowing has been completed on all roads in the Township including the PennDOT roads falling under the Agility Agreement. I have received several questions regarding the necessity of a shadow vehicle following the road mower. Our mowing contractor utilizes a shadow vehicle in accordance with 67 PA Code, Chapter 203 which is generally referred to as Publication 203. The applicable section is illustrated in figure 12 ÔMoving Short-term Operation - Two Lane, Two-way Roadway...' which I am attaching to this report. I believe that the full 112 page document is available in the Township office.
The intersection work including Warner Lane, Phoenixville Pike, State Road, Whitehorse Road, Yellow Springs Road, General Warren Boulevard and Charlestown Road is nearly completed. I was in attendance at the two Public Utility Commission inspections of the Warner Lane railroad crossing.
I attended six LTAP courses and the PSATS ÔRoadmaster's Roundtable'.
I am continuing to review the township roads for deficiencies or necessary improvements. The reflective bar installation on critical stop-sign posts is continuing. Painting of stop-bars at the stop signs will begin Road materials status:
| Material | Jun 30, 03 | Received | Used | Jul 31, 03 | On order |
| Anti-skid | 39 | 0 | 0 | 39 | 0 |
| Road salt | 39 | 0 | 0 | 39 | 0 |
| Totals | 78 | 0 | 0 | 78 | 0 |
| Cold Patch | 1 | 0 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 0 |
| Note: Numbers are tons and are approximate. |
Respectfully submitted,
Frederick C. Alston
Roadmaster
November 3, 2003
More storms in October again caused minor flooding and brought down numerous wires and trees which forced the closing of roads in the township. I would again like to thank PennDOT, PECO Energy, Verizon, East Whiteland Township Volunteer Fire Association, Kimberton Fire Company, Schuylkill Township Police and public works departments, Pennsylvania State Police, CM Jones, Inc., Melchiorre Construction Co. and all of the individuals in the township who pitched in to help. This list is certainly not complete nor is it arranged in any particular order. A partial list of the roads that were affected is attached. After the storm, township roads were broomed as needed to remove the storm debris.
The following roads were affected by these storms during October, 2003:
| Buckwalter Road | Flooding |
| Howells Road | 2 trees on wires - road closed |
| Valley Hill Road | Tree on wires - road closed |
| Hollow Road | Tree - road partially closed |
| Bodine Rd | Tree - road partially closed |
| PA Turnpike at Bodine Rd | Tree on wires |
| Foster Rd | Tree - road partially closed |
| Union Hill Rd | Tree - road partially closed |
| Tinker Hill Ln and Union Hill Rd | Tree on wires, broken utility pole - roads closed |
Traffic lights out at Conestoga and Valley Hill Roads
Traffic lights out at Charlestown and State Roads
There were several other trees, trees and wires, and wires incidents that were attended to by PECO, Verizon, homeowners, PennDOT, contractors and myself.
Dead tree and limb removal is ongoing. We are continuing to replace road signs, particularly road name signs, as necessary. We also corrected the drainage problem at Marion and Tyrone Roads; did base repair and repaved Academic Way (F Street) (the total cost being shared with the Valley Forge Christian College); shoulder, base and curb repair and repaved Aldham Road and cleared some NSRR ditching; replaced a cross pipe, added an inlet and repaved Union Hill Road from State Road to the Markley farm; curb repair on Howell Road due to the storms and several other minor inlet repair projects.
I have completed a turning traffic volume study for Union Hill Road at State Road (morning rush hour). The results of that study will be formalized and distributed to the Board of Supervisors but the general numbers indicate that for a two-hour rush-hour period from 0700 to 0900 hours on October 15, 2003 approximately one-half of the vehicles southbound on State Road turned left on Union Hill Road. These numbers are consistent with the study on Union Hill Road performed October 8, 2003.
The final PUC inspection was made of the Warner Lane / Phoenixville Pike intersection. We are in the process of making sets of barricades for use as needed.
I am continuing to review the township roads for deficiencies or necessary improvements.
Road materials status:
| Material | Sep 30, 03 | Received | Used | Oct 31, 03 | On order |
| Anti-skid | 39 | 0 | 0 | 39 | 0 |
| Road salt | 39 | 0 | 0 | 39 | 0 |
| Totals | 78 | 0 | 0 | 78 | 0 |
| Cold Patch | 0.5 | 0 | 0 | 0.5 | 0 |
| Note: Numbers are tons and are approximate. |
Respectfully submitted,
Frederick C. Alston
Roadmaster
December 1, 2003
More storms in November brought down wires and trees which forced the closing of
roads in the township. Among those roads closed were Green Lane Road, Foster Road,
Howells Road and Hilltop Road.
We are continuing to replace road signs,
particularly road name signs, as necessary. We still have a few inlet problems
(Wyndham Lane, Valley Hill Road, and Marian Road), shoulder problems (Yellow Springs
Road at the Turnpike, Blackberry Lane and Valley Hill Road at Conestoga Road) and a
crosspipe problem on Jamie Lane all of which should be resolved in the early part of
December.
We are in the process of completing sets of
barricades for use as needed. We received approximately 30 loaded sandbags for use
as weights on barricades or signs.
I set up traffic cones at the polling place and met
with PennDOT regarding line painting and other maintenance issues. I am continuing
to review the township roads for deficiencies or necessary improvements.
Road materials status:
| Material | Oct 31, 03 | Received | Used | Nov 30, 03 | On order |
| Anti-skid | 39 | 120 | 0 | 159 | 0 |
| Road salt | 39 | 120 | 0 | 159 | 0 |
| Totals | 78 | 250 | 0 | 318 | 0 |
| Cold Patch | 0.5 | 0 | 0 | 0.5 | 0 |
| Note: Numbers are tons and are approximate. |
Respectfully submitted,
Frederick C. Alston
Roadmaster
January 5, 2003
Before the middle of December, we had three snowstorms that were sandwiched between many nights of sub-freezing temperatures. The roads were plowed and anti-skid/salt mixture was applied as necessary. The water table is very high right now and as a result, we are seeing constantly flowing springs on Yellow Springs, Bodine, Church and Pikeland Roads which continue to cause icing problems. I am working with PennDOT to try to alleviate some of the major problems by ditching and, where necessary, installing drains for the springs.
We are continuing to replace road signs, particularly road name signs. We have resolved inlet problems on Wyndham Lane, Valley Hill Road, and Marian Road; the shoulder problems on Yellow Springs Road at the Turnpike, Blackberry Lane and Valley Hill Road at Conestoga Road; and crosspipe and inlet problems on Jamie Lane.
Road barricades are being finished and inlets are being marked with green stakes as time and weather permit. A work-order tracking program should be implemented in January for all road related problems.
During a delivery at the township yard, a truck accidently backed into one corner of the garage, causing some moderate damage. The garage is still weather tight and repairs should be completed in January.
I continue to meet with PennDOT regarding maintenance issues and review the township roads for deficiencies or necessary improvements.
During 2003, we experienced a hurricane, a tropical storm, several nor'easters, wind storms, extraordinary rainfall and snow and ice storms. These incidents all added up to quite a baptism for me as a new Roadmaster. I have enjoyed my work, though, and I look forward to continuing to serve in this capacity for 2004.
Road materials status:
| Material | Nov 30, 03 | Received | Used | Dec 31, 03 | On order |
| Road salt | 159 | 125 | 184 | 100 | 0 |
| Anti-skid | 159 | 100 | 159 | 100 | 0 |
| Totals | 318 | 225 | 343 | 200 | 0 |
| Cold Patch | 0.5 | 0 | 0.4 | 0.1 | 0 |
| Note: Numbers are tons and are approximate. |
Respectfully submitted,
Frederick C. Alston
Roadmaster
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