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)
Appraisals needed to add lane to busy intersection
A long-discussed road widening project is finally moving ahead.
Towamencin’s supervisors voted recently to approve two contracts relating to the widening of the intersection of Welsh and Orvilla Roads, on the border of Towamencin and Hatfield townships.
“The township’s traffic engineer has submitted an addendum proposal for a contract supplement, for additional services related to the design and permitting of the proposed roadway improvements,” said supervisors Chair Joyce Snyder.
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 improve traffic flow.
Engineering work started in spring 2022, followed by talks with property owners along the route to secure strips of property needed for the widening.The most recent public update on the project came in March 2025, when the township’s traffic engineer outlined reasons for recent delays and said design work could be done by the end of 2025 depending on meetings with property owners over the summer.
During the Oct. 22 meeting, Snyder read two action items, both up for board approval and both relating to the Welsh-Orvilla widening project. The first would authorize township traffic engineer Bowman Consulting Group to do up to $126,000 — to be split 50-50 with Hatfield Township — in additional work for the project, with details spelled out in a memo posted online by the township and including securing permits from the state Department of Environmental Protection, performing plan reviews, doing revisions for a highway occupancy permit, and coordinating easements and rights-of-way.
A similar memo spells out a separate action item: a proposal from Souderton-based Indian Valley Appraisal Company spells out costs for that firm to appraise eleven parcels along the intersection, with fees ranging as high as $7,500 per property “depending on the complexity of the assignment.”
Both contracts were unanimously approved with no further discussion by the board. As of mid-September, recent steps on the project included a technical submission made by Bowman to the Montgomery County Conservation District, and next steps would include acquisition of the rights-of-way once the appraisals are secured, according to the township’s public works committee report.
Two other action items were also approved unanimously by the board, one applying to PECO’s Green Region Open Space program for $7,200 toward installing native trees near Kibler Meadow, and a second seeking $1 million from the Commonwealth Financing Authority’s Local Share grant program for sewer interceptor lines near the Skippack Creek.
Supervisor Kofi Osei asked if grant applications to the state could be delayed due to the ongoing budget stalemate in Harrisburg, and township Manager David Kraynik said applications can still be filed, but funding is uncertain until a budget is passed.
“We have several grant applications at the state level, and nothing is moving. So any pending grant applications are in limbo. They’re still accepting applications, and we’re still going to apply before the deadline, but when we hear is anybody’s guess,” Kraynik said.
Towamencin’s supervisors next meet at 7 p.m. on Nov. 12 at the township administration building, 1090 Troxel Road. For more information visit www.Towamencin.org.
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