A driver turns left through double red lights at the intersection of Welsh Road and Orvilla Road on the border of Towamencin and Hatfield townships in 2021. (MediaNews Group file photo)
State sought archaeology research, PennDOT and county now vetting plans, per engineer
Work on a long-discussed intersection widening project on the border of Towamencin and Hatfield could pick up this year.
Township officials heard an update this month on plans to add a new lane at the intersection of Welsh and Orvilla Roads, and when visible work could start.
“Construction we estimate at this time, depending on when it starts, could take 12 to 16 months,” said traffic engineer Chad Dixson.
In May 2021 the township authorized a grant application seeking funds to design upgrades to the four-way intersection of Welsh and Orvilla, an intersection noted in a 2019 traffic study of projects that could need future upgrades including widening, and/or changes to the signal timing to facilitate traffic flow better.
Engineering work started in spring 2022. The engineer presented a first design that summer. In 2023, the engineer updated the board that talks with property owners along the route had started to secure strips of property needed for the widening and that work could start as soon as 2024.
During the township supervisors meeting on March 12, Dixson gave an update, outlining new developments and the reasons for delays since talks on the project began and the first plans were presented. In 2022 the two townships applied to the state’s multimodal transportation fund program and secured roughly $446,000 in state grant money to cover the engineering costs for the project, which would add left turn lanes on all four sides of the intersection, upgrade the signals, add accessible pedestrian crossings, and include drainage improvements underground.
“I think everybody’s probably aware of the constraints at the intersection: primarily, the cemetery and the gas station,” on the northwest and northeast sides respectively of the intersection, Dixson said.
As he spoke, the engineer showed an overhead photo of the current intersection, with new lanes superimposed in black on the south side of Welsh and on the eastern side of Orvilla, with new shoulder and lane dimensions marked throughout. After initial surveys and meetings with property owners in 2022, the engineer told the supervisors, a second plan was submitted to PennDOT and reviewed into early 2023, before infiltration testing was done that summer — and a new delay was encountered that fall.
Towamencin Township’s traffic engineer Chad Dixson, inset, speaks to the board of supervisors about the planned widening of the intersection of Welsh and Orvilla Roads, with new lanes shaded in black on the south side of Welsh and east side of Orvilla, during the March 12, 2025 board meeting. (Screenshot of meeting video)“The state historic preservation office wanted additional research done for the Plains Mennonite church property, in terms of additional archaeological research,” said Dixson, “to determine whether they were eligible properties for the historic registry.”
“We really put design activities on hold, pretty much, until that additional research was done, and got a determination back from the state, because their findings were going to heavily influence our stormwater design for the project,” he said.
In April 2024 that state office ruled that “nothing on the property was considered to be eligible” for the historic registry, and the design work could proceed, Dixson told the board. Since that ruling, infiltration testing found “there’s very little infiltration out there so that complicated our stormwater design” from earlier versions, and a third version of the plans has been submitted to PennDOT and to the Montgomery County Conservation District for their review.
“After that submission, we’ve pretty much addressed all of PennDOT’s major comments,” Dixson said.
Based on the current status of those reviews, another 12 to 18 months are estimated for all outside approvals and vetting to be complete, with another round of meetings with property owners likely this spring, then test pits for locating underground utilities below the roadway possible by late spring or summer. Another three to six months would then be needed to finalize construction documents, then a year-plus for construction itself.
“We could potentially be done with the design and permitting before the end of the year. The things that can affect that are the review schedules from PennDOT and the conservation district, and how the property owner meetings go this spring and summer,” he said.
Both townships have already applied jointly to PennDOT’s Multimodal Transportation Fund for a grant toward the construction costs, and that grant is typically announced in summer or fall, the engineer said, and he’ll keep the board updated on new developments.
Board chairman Chuck Wilson asked if the new design would include left turn arrows for all four directions, and Dixson said he did not recall, “but we are evaluating that.”
“We don’t have final traffic signal permit approval, but I’ll confirm which approaches will have that advance phase,” Dixson said.
Towamencin’s supervisors next meet at 7 p.m. on March 26 at the township administration building, 1090 Troxel Road. For more information visit www.Towamencin.org.
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