It seems improvements to the cross-walk at the intersection of Militia Drive and Allentown Road will proceed – making it safer for kids and parents who want to walk/bike to the nearby Walton Farm Elementary School.
This has been a multi-year effort by local families involving both Towamencin Township and PENNDOT. As covered earlier in The Reporter, on the first pass, parents were told their kids should not be using this crossing at all and they should instead, get back on the the bus for transportation to and from the school.
This article indicates some of the original PENNDOT-approved improvements will not be part of the final design – at the request of the township. Later in the article it is noted similar crossing improvements are also coming to Columbia Avenue and Woodlawn Drive, which would seem to benefit pedestrian/biking access to Inglewood Elementary School.
Neither Walton Farm Elementary School, nor the neighborhood on Militia Drive are new. Covid seems to have caused an awakening among parents that their children should be able take an ACTIVE way to get to school, which, given the short distance should be a safe and easy activity. Congratulations to them for holding fast to their goals.
This is not the only neighborhood in the North Penn area considering the benefits of active forms of transportation for small distances and everyone should support improvements allowing kids to walk/bike to any and all schools in the North Penn School District. As the district moves forward with a new 9th grade building at the High School campus, thereby increasing the number of students concentrated there by 25%, non-car, bike/pedestrian access needs to be greatly improved or traffic congestion in the area will get that much worse.
It is important to call out positive action right now being taken by Towamencin Township with their Sidewalk and Trail Connectivity Study – for which they are soliciting input from residents in and around the township.
As new housing developments are proposed in our area local governments should consider the ability to get in and out of these developments by using something other than a car, and how complementary changes to nearby roads, intersections and crossings can be made in parallel to new construction. This is how we can create a healthy environment for our children, this is how we can make the North Penn region a more appealing place to live for every one and this is how we can reduce traffic congestion on our local roads AND it benefits the environment.