For Aug. 1, Road Watch
PennDOT has finalized its changes to the driver record-check system to make all accident information available to school districts prior to hiring school bus drivers.
This change came in direct response to state Rep. Josh Shapiro’s request to PennDOT Secretary Allen D. Biehler after the Feb. 17 accident where Frederick Poust III, a school bus driver for the Perkiomen Valley School District, struck and killed a driver while operating his school bus.
Poust obtained a Commercial Driver’s License and was hired by the school district. This was despite the fact that he had been involved in another fatal accident in 1999 where, distracted by his handheld cell phone, Poust drove through a stop sign and into an oncoming car, killing Morgan Lee Pena, 2.
Shapiro, D-153, of Montgomery County, said he was pleased PennDOT has implemented this necessary change ahead of schedule and before the start of the school year.
“After learning of this horrible accident, I called Secretary Biehler and worked with PennDOT to change their regulations,” Shapiro said.
“Without this information, it is virtually impossible for a school district to effectively assess any application to hire qualified men and women to drive our children to school each and every day,”Shapiro said.
State Rep. Bryan Lentz, D-161, of Swarthmore, said PennDOT previously offered a 10-year history of a driver’s record, but the terrible school bus accident exemplified the need for a complete driver history.
Following that accident, Lentz, a member of the House Transportation Committee, said he also worked with other legislators and Penn to change the system.
“Parents trust the state is doing everything to ensure the school bus drivers hired to transport their children to and from school are highly qualified and conscientious,” Lentz said.
“This will give school bus companies the information they need to make a completely informed decision on who they hire to operate their buses and protect children from drivers who have a record of unsafe driving – in time for the new school year,” he said.
“PennDOT’s quick and expedient response to this serious matter is commendable and no doubt appreciated by every parent with a school-age child,” Lentz said.
Shapiro initially announced this policy change in March. He was then joined by Montgomery County District Attorney Risa Vetri Ferman and Abington School Superintendent Dr. Amy Sichel.
Effective immediately, PennDOT has expanded the driver record to include the severity of the crash and will be categorized as: fatal, indicating that at least one person was killed in the crash; injury, indicating that at least one person was injured; or property, indicating no one was injured and only property was damaged.
The records will not indicate the individual at fault for the accident, but will allow a school district or school bus company to contact the potential new driver for additional information about the accident.
Employers of commercial drivers will automatically be given a complete driving history through the PennDOT electronic service channel, rather than only a 10-year history, as was previously provided.
DRPA PROBE
Following reports of alleged misuse of toll-payer money at the Delaware River Port Authority – which operates the four bridges over the Delaware River – state Sen. Anthony H. Williams, D-8, of Philadelphia, has urged further inquiry into the matter.
He sent a letter to Pennsylvania Treasurer Robert McCord thanking him for initiating a formal inquiry and asking him to share the department’s findings with the state Senate.
Williams is Democratic chairman of the Senate State Government Committee. He said he will request the committee to hold public hearings and consider legislative remedies to ensure that proper code of conduct and conflict of interest safeguards are in place for DRPA’s future spending decisions.
McCord’s inquiry findings will be helpful in the committee’s efforts to examine this issue, Williams said.
“I’m highly concerned about these allegations because my constituents are using their hard-earned money every day to travel across bridges with DRPA tolls,” he said.
“We need to take the proper steps on the state level to ensure that the DRPA - is making proper spending decisions,” Williams said.
I 95 North
Northbound I-95 will be reduced to one lane on the Girard Point Bridge in Philadelphia today, 8 a.m.-4 p.m., for bridge inspection, PennDOT said.
Motorists traveling north on I-95 in this area are advised to allow additional travel time or use an alternate route because traffic backups will occur.
PennDOT Responds
PennDOT repainted the faded solid white line on northbound Baltimore Pike (Route 1) near Route 352 (Middletown Road) in Middletown as a result of a Road Rant from a reader which ran last Sunday.
Gene Blaum, PennDOT assistant press secretary in King of Prussia, notified the Road Watcher about the action on Tuesday.
Now, that’s what I call quick response to a road problem. Too bad, the honchos in Harrisburg drag their feet on most issues and can never come to a bipartisan compromise, like the issues related to natural gas drilling on the Marcellus Shale, public transit, et al.
SEPTA Routes 101/102
Effective Sept. 5, riders will see new names for select stations on the Route 101 and Route 102 trolley lines and the Norristown High Speed Line.
For the most part, names on these lines reflect the streets immediately adjacent to the stations. This renaming will better identify those stations which were not associated with their actual roadway location.
New and infrequent riders will benefit in addition to those who access popular electronic transit mapping sites and other GPS technologies. The station name changes are the result of SEPTA’s enhanced customer service initiatives.
For instance, the Bywood Station will be designated Avon Road; Beverly Hills will be Beverly Boulevard; Oakview will be Creek Road; and Collingdale will be MacDade Boulevard.
Traffic Delays
Radnor – Goshen Road, road work costing $1.3 million, closed/detoured 24 hours daily between Darby-Paoli and Hunt roads for roadway reconstruction and realignment to remove a sharp curve through Aug. 21. Work began March 1. Goshen Road will be detoured over Darby-Paoli Road, Bryn Mawr Avenue, Route 3, Route 252 and Goshen Road.
Concord – Baltimore Pike, bridge replacement with lane restrictions on bridge over Chester Creek 9 a.m.-3 p.m. weekdays through June 2011. Work began in September 2009.
Baltimore Pike (U.S. Route 1) – Middletown and Chester Heights, bridge replacement with lane restrictions between Darlington and Station roads, 24-hour restrictions through June 2011. Work began Oct. 12.
Road Watch/Road Rant appears Sundays. Only messages and mail with phone numbers will be considered. E-mail: jroman@delcotimes.com.

Road Watch/Rant for July 25—--JMR
(Heat Wave Stresses Importance of not leaving kids or pets in cars)
Unless you live on another planet or are a hermit with no access to news, there’s no excuse for leaving any child or pet alone in a car in this long spell of 90-plus weather.
The inside temperature of a vehicle can reach up to 131-172 degrees Fahrenheit when parked in direct sunlight, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
“It’s important to remember that temperatures inside a car on a day with outside temperatures in the mid-to-high 90s can quickly soar to nearly 200 degrees, which is hot enough to cook many foods and to kill most living things,” said Jana L. Tidwell, a spokeswoman for AAA Mid-Atlantic.
“Never leave children or pets in a parked car,” she said. “If you see a child or pet locked in a car and cannot find the owner of the vehicle, call 911 immediately.”
The risk of serious injury or death during hot weather is heightened for children left alone in vehicles, according to research by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
Heat stroke, a form of hyperthermia, is the leading cause of non-crash vehicle deaths for children under the age of 14. NHTSA reports at least 27 documented deaths per year due to the latter.
NHTSA and AAA Mid-Atlantic offer the following safety tips:
BULLET Never leave a child alone in a car – even with the windows partially opened – as a vehicle’s interior can still heat up quickly to deadly temperatures.
BULLET Don’t leave your children in a vehicle with the motor running and air conditioner on even for a few minutes. A child may put the car into drive or even get caught in a closing power window. Also, there is the added risk of the car being hijacked and the child being abducted.
BULLET Make a habit of looking inside the vehicle – front and back – before locking the door and walking away. Children have died because they fell asleep in their car seats and their parents/guardians didn’t realize they were still in the car.
BULLET If your spouse or guardian is taking your children to day car, ask him or her to call you to make sure the drop-off went according to plan.
BULLET Do things to remind you that a child is in the vehicle:
BULLET Leave a written note in your vehicle where you will see it as you leave the vehicle such as on the dashboard.
BULLET Place your purse, briefcase or something else you need in the back seat where the child is seated so that you will have to check that area to retrieve it when you leave the vehicle.
BULLET Keep an object in the child’s car seat, such as a stuffed toy. When the child is buckled in, place the object where the driver will notice it when leaving the vehicle, as a reminder that a child is in the back seat.
BULLET Don’t let children play in an unattended vehicle – teach them that a car is not a play area. Remember that tragedy in the Camden area where three boys died while locked inside a trunk. Always lock your car doors and keep car keys out of children’s reach.
If a child has spent a prolonged amount of time in a hot vehicle and appears to be showing signs of heat distress, call 911 immediately for medical assistance. Cool the victim as quickly as possible by applying cool water to the skin and/or ice packs under the armpits and groin area while waiting for help.
NHTSA offers additional tips on keeping children safe at: www.nhtsa.gov/KeepingKidsSafe.
ROAD RANT
I’ve never been a fan of cloverleafs or traffic circles – which I think are extremely dangerous and obsolete. Never been a fan of the crazy cloverleaf in Middletown on the way to the Granite Run Mall.
Neither apparently is a regular reader requesting anonymity who gave this week’s Road Rant about the on-ramp from Route 352 North (Middletown Road) to Route 1 North (Baltimore Pike) and the Media Bypass.
“There is a stop sign here that backs traffic up big time in the morning rush hour,” he e-mails. “People stop here and are afraid to merge onto Route 1.
“I think a lot of the drivers do not realize there is a solid (lane) line here (on Baltimore Pike) which means that traffic already traveling on Route 1 cannot cross over,” he continues.
“Therefore, cars looking to turn onto Route 1 from Route 352 should have no issue,” he says.
His main point is that the solid white line along Route 1 needs to be repainted and has been faded for a while. This may be a reason drivers are timid when turning at this intersection.
Road Watcher visited the ramp onto Route 1 North with a stop sign for only turning right – not far from a stop sign for a back street, East Old Baltimore Pike – about noontime Thursday.
The traffic on Route 1 approaching either the straightaway for Media or the entrance to the Route 1/Media Bypass was a never-ending stream – and quite fast – making it very hairy to turn right onto the pike after stopping at the stop sign.
I believe even with a solid white line separating the third and far-right lane, the oncoming vehicles often bear right to get onto the bypass even though they could stay in the center lane to get onto the bypass. Maybe that's why many motorists are reluctant to pull out after stopping.
PennDOT spokesman Gene Blaum said he would check into it to see if it should be painted.
PennDOT Cleanup
More than 186,000 volunteers cleaned 19,373 miles of roads, trails and shorelines in Pennsylvania during the Great American Cleanup of PA, which ran from March 1 to May 31, PennDOT said.
During the cleanup, 12 million pounds of trash was collected, with 3.7 million pounds collected by PennDOT’s Adopt-A-Highway program volunteers.
There were about 4,822 reported cleanup events statewide. Of the total miles cleaned, Adopt-A-Highway groups cleaned a record 12,340 miles of roadways with the help of nearly 104,000 volunteers.
PennDOT provides gloves and safety vests for Adopt-A-Highway and cleanup groups. PennDOT usually spends about $11 million annually for litter pickup with department staff.
PennDOT spokesman Gene Blaum said a check of the site online indicates there should be a solid white lane line at the spot in question, but he had to further check it out before notifying a painting crew.
SEPTA Regional Rail
SEPTA will issue new schedules for all Regional Rail Lines effective today.
In addition to the time changes, riders will also notice new easier to read Regional Rail schedules. The most noticeable change is the single color designation – blue gray – which replaces the orange signs.
Passengers may pick up the new timetables at Market Street-East, Suburban and 30th Street stations and SEPTA sales offices. They are also available on the Web site at www.septa.org or call customer service at 215-580-7800.
On the Media-Elwyn Line Time adjustments have been made to most weekday, midday and weekend trains.
On the Paoli-Thorndale Line, Train #9562 will now operate as train #562 and will run two minutes later departing Thorndale at 1:10 p.m. Train #564 will run two minutes later, departing Malvern at 1:57 p.m.
Traffic Delays
Radnor – Goshen Road, road work costing $1.3 million, closed/detoured 24 hours daily between Darby-Paoli and Hunt roads for roadway reconstruction and realignment to remove a sharp curve through Aug. 21. Work began March 1. Goshen Road will be detoured over Darby-Paoli Road, Bryn Mawr Avenue, Route 3, Route 252 and Goshen Road.
Concord – Baltimore Pike, bridge replacement with lane restrictions on bridge over Chester Creek 9 a.m.-3 p.m. weekdays through June 2011. Work began in September 2009.
Baltimore Pike (U.S. Route 1) – Middletown and Chester Heights, bridge replacement with lane restrictions between Darlington and Station roads, 24-hour restrictions through June 2011. Work began Oct. 12.
Road Watch/Road Rant appears Sundays. Only messages and mail with phone numbers will be considered. E-mail: jroman@delcotimes.com.

For July 18 – Road Watch
Motorists who have to use area bridges for commuting to work or going on vacation will face a number of traffic restrictions this week – so be forewarned.
The Ben Franklin Bridge will be closed to all vehicular traffic today from 7:15-8:30 a.m. for the 23rd annual Irish Pub Tour de Shore cycling event benefiting police and fire related charities, the Delaware River Port Authority reported.
Also, the Franklin Bridge will also have the following restrictions this week.
Monday, 9:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m., the two right westbound lanes will be closed for construction and scheduled inspections.
Tuesday-Thursday, 9:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m., the two right eastbound lanes will be closed for construction and scheduled inspections.
Friday-July 26, beginning at 8 p.m. Friday and ending at 5 a.m. July 26, there will be various lane closings for asphalt repairs.
On noon Friday, a festival is scheduled for the Susquehanna Bank Center in Camden, N.J.
Drivers leaving the event should consider using the Walt Whitman Bridge as an alternate because construction is scheduled for the westbound Ben Franklin Bridge at 8 p.m. Friday, according to the Delaware River Port Authority.
Whitman Bridge
The following traffic restrictions are scheduled on the Walt Whitman Bridge this week.
Monday-Thursday, between 9 a.m. and 2:30 p.m., the right westbound lane will be closed for construction.
On Friday, between 6:30 a.m. and 2:30 p.m., the right-hand lane of the ramp connecting Penrose Avenue with the eastbound bridge will be closed for sound barrier inspection.
Monday-Friday, from 9 p.m. to 5 a.m., construction will close lanes of the ramp connecting the eastbound bridge with the freeway and the ramp connecting the bridge eastbound with the Black Horse Pike.
Wednesday-Friday, 9 p.m.-5 a.m., the lanes of the ramp connecting the freeway with the bridge westbound will be closed for strip seal replacement.
Betsy Ross Bridge
On Monday, 9 a.m.-noon, the right lane of eastbound Route 90, east of the toll plaza will be closed.
Also, Monday, noon-2 p.m., the right lane of westbound Route 90, east of the toll plaza will be closed.
Tuesday, 9 a.m.-2 p.m., the left lane of eastbound Route 90, east of the toll plaza will be closed.
Friday, 9 a.m.-noon, the right lane of the ramp connecting Route 90 with Route 130 North will be closed.
Friday, noon-2 p.m., the left lane of the ramp connecting Route 90 with Route 130 North will be closed.
Manoa Road – Haverford
Manoa Road will be closed between West Chester Pike (Route 3) and Darby Road for about a week starting Monday 7 a.m.-5 p.m. for emergency sewer work.
Local access for residents will be permitted from Darby Road to Naylors Run Road, and from West Chester Pike to Woodbine Road.
Federal Transit Grants
Two transit projects that will improve transit service and technology received nearly $9 million in Federal Transit Administration funding, but it hardly makes a dent in a $484 million public transit gap, according to Gov. Ed Rendell.
PennDOT received $5 million to update technologies which support and enhance human service, curb-to-curb transportation services to improve efficiency and cost effectiveness statewide.
Examples include acquiring paratransit scheduling and vehicle locator technology, automated telephone service, Web-based trip scheduling and real-time information access.
The grant is matched with $10 million in federal funding PennDOT receives for rural public transit and $5 million in state discretionary funding. The grant will be distributed over the next five years.
The second grant of nearly $4 million to SEPTA will go toward the cost of completely renovating the Wayne Junction Intermodal Facility, built a century ago. Overall cost is $20 million.
Pennsylvania’s Transportation Advisory Committee issued a report in May identifying $484 million in unmet public transit needs this year. The shortfall grows to more than $3 billion by 2029-30.
In addition to the two grants announced last week, PennDOT is already working with local transit agencies statewide to improve efficiencies and customer service, in Delaware County and other counties. PennDOT is helping improve management efficiencies and designing multi-tiered fare structures.
SEPTA Drops “Rs”
On July 25, SEPTA is eliminating the confusing “R” and numbers and rebranding Regional Rail using the current end destination names.
SEPTA said this change is an important, customer friendly effort to promote the use of public transit in our region and reduce the confusion and travel inconvenience our current system of duplicate R’s and line numbers creates for new riders and visitors and tourists unfamiliar with SEPTA Regional Rail.
This will not change train service – only the way we refer to individual lines on timetables, signs for cars and stations, maps, and customer announcements.
Please see the Regional Rail and Rail Transit map which reflects all of the name and rebranding changes.
We are aware that you currently use the R#s as shorthand to refer to our Regional Rail service.
Effective July 25, 2010 New Regional Rail Line Designations will be:
BULLET Airport Regional Rail Line
BULLET Media/Elwyn Regional Rail Line
BULLET Paoli/Thorndale Regional Rail Line
BULLET Wilmington/Newark Regional Rail Line
BULLET Chestnut Hill East Regional Rail Line, Chestnut Hill West Regional Rail Line
BULLET Cynwyd Regional Rail Line
BULLET Fox Chase Regional Rail Line
BULLET Lansdale/Doylestown Regional Rail Line
BULLET Manayunk/Norristown Regional Rail Line
BULLET Trenton Regional Rail Line
BULLET Warminster Regional Rail Line
BULLET West Trenton Regional Rail Line
Along with the name rebranding, SEPTA is also adopting a single color designation – blue gray – for all Regional Rail Lines.
SEPTA spokesman Andrew Busch said, “We’ve already taken a number of small steps to reinforce our service brands – designating all of our trolley routes using green as the Line color and redesigning our transit timetables.”
U.S. Route 202
Motorists will face weeknight lane closures on Route 202 between Westtown Road and Paoli Pike interchanges in Westtown and West Goshen, Chester County, for road construction.
Traffic Delays
Radnor – Goshen Road, road work costing $1.3 million, closed/detoured 24 hours daily between Darby-Paoli and Hunt roads for roadway reconstruction and realignment to remove a sharp curve through Aug. 21. Work began March 1. Goshen Road will be detoured over Darby-Paoli Road, Bryn Mawr Avenue, Route 3, Route 252 and Goshen Road.
Concord – Baltimore Pike, bridge replacement with lane restrictions on bridge over Chester Creek 9 a.m.-3 p.m. weekdays through June 2011. Work began in September 2009.
Baltimore Pike (U.S. Route 1) – Middletown and Chester Heights, bridge replacement with lane restrictions between Darlington and Station roads, 24-hour restrictions through June 2011. Work began Oct. 12.
Road Watch/Road Rant appears Sundays. Only messages and mail with phone numbers will be considered. E-mail: jroman@delcotimes.com.

ROAD WATCH for 7-11
PennDOT has fully implemented the federally mandated National Motor Vehicle Titling Information System, providing one more tool to aid PennDOT’s extensive efforts to mitigate the risk for vehicle fraud.
This will protect consumers from unsafe or stolen vehicles.
“The implementation of NMVTIS gives PennDOT one more tool to protect vehicle purchasers against fraud,” said Kurt Myers, PennDOT’s deputy secretary for safety administration.
Auto theft costs insurance companies and consumers nearly $8 billion a year.
Only 63 percent of the 1.3 million vehicles stolen annually throughout the U.S. are recovered.
“Brand washing” – removing descriptive labels or “brands” assigned by a state to identify a vehicle’s condition when transferring and retitling a defective or unsafe vehicle in a different state, not only costs consumers money, but potentially endangers their lives.
NMVTIS is a consolidated database of vehicle titling information compiled by participating state motor vehicle agencies. It allows for the vehicle titling history to be accessible to motor vehicle departments and consumers to verify key vehicle titling information, including Vehicle Identification Number, odometer information and state “brand” information describing the vehicle’s current or prior condition, such as “junk,” “salvage,” or “flood.”
Thirty-four states including Pennsylvania, currently supply information to NMVTIS.
Through this system, PennDOT will be able to verify a vehicle title by immediately checking electronically against the titling history of about 81 percent of the motor vehicles in the U.S.
If the information returned by NMVTIS raises any questions, the vehicle will not be titled until further research is conducted to mitigate the potential for fraud.
More information about NMVTIS is available at www.nmvtis.gov.
Bridge Closing
The Ben Franklin Bridge will be closed to all vehicular traffic 6:30-7:45 a.m. today for the 38th annual American Cancer Society Bike-a-thon.
Driver License Center Moves
The Bortondale Driver License and Photo Center at 440 S. Old Middletown Road in Middletown has moved to Route 352 (Middletown Road) adjacent to the Granite Run Mall.l
It provides more customer convenience with expanded customer seating in a facility three times the size of the Bortondale location, PennDOT says.
The photo center will be open 8:30 a.m.-4:15 p.m. Monday-Saturday, with extended hours until 6 p.m. Thursdays.
South Gulph Road
A traffic pattern shift is scheduled on South Gulph Road at Henderson Road in Upper Merion, Montgomery County, 9 a.m.-noon Monday for line painting and traffic signal timing.
The following week PECO Energy crews will replace a gas main on South Gulph Road between Henderson Road and Crooked Lane. Motorists will face lane restrictions July 19-23 from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Route 1/I-76
The eastbound I-76 (Schuylkill Expressway) on-ramp to Route 1 North (Roosevelt Expressway) will be closed weeknights the next two weeks through July 23 from 8 p.m. to 5 a.m. the next morning, PennDOT reports.
I-76 East traffic wanting to access Route 1 North (Roosevelt Expressway) will exit at Montgomery Drive and follow to the I-76 West on-ramp and take I-76 West to the Route 1 North on-ramp.
The Route 1 South on-ramp to I-76 West will also be closed weeknights 8 p.m.-5 a.m. the next two weeks through July 23.
Route 1 South motorists wanting to access I-76 West will exit onto I-76 East and follow to Montgomery Drive and then exit onto Montgomery Drive and follow to the I-76 West on-ramp.
The right lane will be closed on the southbound Route 1 Twin Bridge weeknights the next two weeks through July 23, 9 a.m.-3 p.m. and 8 p.m.-5 a.m. for bridge deck demolition.
The northbound Route 1 Twin Bridge will be reduced from three lanes to two weeknights the next two weeks through July 23 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. and from 8 p.m. to 5 a.m. for bridge deck demolition.
Motorists are advised to allow extra time when traveling on the Route 1 bridges because delays will occur. People should use alternative routes.
The work is part of PennDOT’s $10.7 million project to rehabilitate the deck, superstructure and substructure of the Route 1 Twin Bridges over the Schuylkill River. It is financed with American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funds.
Schuylkill Expressway
The right lane will be closed on I-76 West (Schuylkill Expressway) between South Street and the Vine Expressway (I-676) July 17, from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. for a bridge inspection.
The eastbound right lane will be closed on July 18, from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m.
I-95
One lane will be closed on I-95 North/South between Allegheny and Castor avenues in Philadelphia 9 p.m.-5 a.m. Monday-Thursday for expansion dam installation.
Also, during the same time, the right lane will be closed on I-95 North/South between the Walt Whitman Bridge and Washington Avenue in Philadelphia for sound wall installation.
Traffic Delays
Radnor – Goshen Road, road work costing $1.3 million, closed/detoured 24 hours daily between Darby-Paoli and Hunt roads for roadway reconstruction and realignment to remove a sharp curve through Aug. 21. Work began March 1. Goshen Road will be detoured over Darby-Paoli Road, Bryn Mawr Avenue, Route 3, Route 252 and Goshen Road.
Concord – Baltimore Pike, bridge replacement with lane restrictions on bridge over Chester Creek 9 a.m.-3 p.m. weekdays through June 2011. Work began in September 2009.
Baltimore Pike (U.S. Route 1) – Middletown and Chester Heights, bridge replacement with lane restrictions between Darlington and Station roads, 24-hour restrictions through June 2011. Work began Oct. 12.
Road Watch/Road Rant appears Sundays. Only messages and mail with phone numbers will be considered. E-mail: jroman@delcotimes.com.