A May 9 hearing will gather input on a proposed improvements to Route 30 from the Route 48 intersection in North Versailles to Carpenter Lane in North Huntingdon.
PennDOT representatives and the project team will have the project plans on display from 2:30 to 4 p.m. at the Hartford Heights Fire Hall, 14335 Route 30, North Huntingdon. That will be followed by a public hearing from 4:30 to 6 p.m. Comments can be made about the environmental assessment of the project, said PennDOT spokeswoman Laina Aqualine.
The proposed design features unveiled a few years ago have not changed. Those plans include creating jug handles for turns to improve safety and an elimination of turning lanes in the middle of the four-lane highway. Currently, there are stretches of the highway with no guardrails or jersey barriers to prevent head-on collisions, some of which have been fatal.
Fire departments have weighed-in on the proposed project, which would require vehicles responding to an emergency, to access the other direction of travel at the jug handle turns.
PennDOT is planning to extend the Route 30 improvement project from the Carpenter Lane-Leger Road intersection to the 10th Street intersection in Irwin.
Joe Napsha is a TribLive reporter covering Irwin, North Huntingdon and the Norwin School District. He also writes about business issues. He grew up on Neville Island and has worked at the Trib since the early 1980s. He can be reached at jnapsha@triblive.com.