This concerns the dangerous and massive mess that Woodward and Piatt Townships had bestowed upon us by the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation and our local County government by allowing and even inviting the gas companies into our area with open arms three years ago.
Work was halted on the construction of I-99 from State College to Williamsport because of lack of funding. As stated by Penn-DOT, this eight-mile stretch of Route 220 four lane highway was not designed as a limited access interstate class of a highway.
The volume of traffic on this eight mile stretch of highway is increasing by the minute.
Penn-DOT wasted time and money by dispersing half the danger from the Pine Run Crossroads in Woodward Township to the crossover 300 yards at the Youngs Road Access in Piatt Township.
At this crossover, traffic from Jersey Shore can make a U-turn to return to Jersey Shore and Williamsport traffic can also make a U-turn to return to Williamsport.
There are no lines painted on the highway crossover between the four lanes of traffic.
We residents sit and wait because we have a stop sign at this crossing.
When there is an opening for us to cross two lanes of traffic, we get blocked out of a spot to temporarily stop before accessing the two lanes to Jersey Shore. The only place to stop at this time is on the two lanes that we are crossing.
We are subjected to being hit broadside.
Even after successfully crossing two lanes, our vision is obscured from the pull over lane from traffic waiting to make a U-turn back to Williamsport. Trucks and many other vehicles are much higher than most cars, SUVs and vans of today.
My last trip to Williamsport yielded 218 gas and construction vehicles that I met down and back.
A three-mile trip to Jersey Shore yields around 50 of these vehicles up and back, any time of the day, five days a week.
Just one mile beyond this catastrophic area lies the remnants of the intersection of Route 287, with a red light, a low overhead railroad bridge with utility lines beneath it, no highway berm and the four lanes of non-divided highway is reduced to three lanes as it is funneled under this highway guillotine railroad bridge.
For those of you who are not affected by these activities or could care less for those who are, I have this to say, "It's only the beginning."
Already there are many families who will not drive to Williamsport because they are deathly afraid of this stretch of highway.
Many residents of Williamsport, especially retired seniors, feel the same way.
A simple survey of residents and those who use this eight mile stretch of highway daily would confirm the seriousness of this situation.
Weldon C. Cohick Jr.
Linden
