Published: July 11, 2008 12:20 am      

Accident numbers prompt PennDOT study of Goucher Street traffic

Concerned about a high number of accidents, PennDOT officials are launching an intensive study of a busy section of Goucher Street in Johnstown’s West Hills suburbs.

And officials want all interested parties – residents, business owners, emergency responders and others – to come up with possible solutions.

“We know there’s a problem. And we don’t have any preconceived ideas on how to solve it,” said Barry Schoch, a Harrisburg-based vice president of McCormick Taylor, an engineering firm hired for the project.

Officials are focusing on a mile-long stretch of Goucher from Westgate Drive in Lower Yoder Township to Dundee Lane in Westmont Borough.

That section of two-lane includes the Goucher-Menoher Boulevard intersection as well as entrances and exits for Westwood Plaza area businesses and West Side Elementary School.

The area also is residential, with many driveways connecting directly to Goucher – a road traveled by an estimated 14,000 vehicles daily.

Traffic often does not run smoothly in the 25-mph zone. Congestion is common, and officials have found increasing crash rates that mostly involve rear-end collisions.

For example, the Goucher Street accident rate from Menoher to Willett Drive is nearly double the state average for similar two-lane roads.

“This is one of the higher crash areas for this type of road in the county,” said Randy Swales, a PennDOT District 9 project manager.

The data, Schoch said, is “pretty indicative of turning problems and access problems.”

PennDOT will work closely with a 10- to 15-member citizens advisory committee to determine what changes could happen on Goucher. Members, who have not yet been named, will identify problems and potential answers.

“They’re going to be the first ones to put ideas on paper – not us,” Schoch said.

Public meetings also are planned.

The goal, Schoch said, is to come up with a “balanced” plan that everyone can live with.

Officials hope to make a decision on what improvements are needed early next year. Work schedules would depend on the scope of the project.

Susan Holmes, Westmont Borough Council president, said PennDOT officials have talked “for many, many years” about possible Goucher upgrades.

She noted, though, that residents have in the past objected to any road-widening proposals that might affect properties.

“I’m hoping they’re going to be able to do something that’s minimal but makes a dramatic difference,” Holmes said.

PennDOT officials said field crews will be in the Goucher area gathering information in the coming weeks.