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Safety Project Planned For Stretch of Route 220

WOODWARD TOWNSHIP — PennDOT has a $20 million safety plan that could help prevent crashes on a deadly strip of road in Lycoming County. Newswatch 16 met d...
route-220

WOODWARD TOWNSHIP -- PennDOT has a $20 million safety plan that could help prevent crashes on a deadly strip of road in Lycoming County. Newswatch 16 met drivers who are left wondering if anything can be done to make Route 220 safer.

The sign says 55 but Robert Steinbacher knows drivers aren't always obeying the speed limit on Route 220 when they pass his home in Woodward Township.

"I mean you can stand right there and listen to them. I mean they are flying out there," said Steinbacher.

Earlier this week, in a span of about 24 hours, there were two deadly crashes along a stretch of Route 220.

"We call it the death highway, 220 death highway," said Steinbacher.

According to PennDOT, between 2011 and 2015 there were 164 crashes on that strip of Route 220 and three of those involved fatalities. These numbers are enough to show why PennDOT has already started work on a $20 million project in Woodward Township.

"We cannot plan improvements accident by accident," said Mark Murawski.

It's why PennDOT and Lycoming County’s planning department want to address what causes most crashes: drivers pulling onto and off of Route 220.

"Pretty much everything we are doing is access control type things, the jug handles, there will be accel lanes installed," said T Jay Cunningham. “We are going to add basically a spot for you to go right, to ultimately down the road and go into a jug handle to reverse direction and go the opposite direction,” he continued.

"We want something done. We're not sure what PennDOT is planning is going to work," said Steinbacher.

Steinbacher and his neighbors would rather see stop lights put in. PennDOT thinks traffic signals would cause more congestion and potential crashes. Work on the safety project on Route 220 is expected to begin in 2019. It could take two years to complete.

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