L Ls L . EE Et fi tet RE ie ECT A rr The Dallas Post Dallas, PA Wednesday, March 20, 1996 3 SRE Aa we Pioneer Ave. (contirued from page 1) and at Mount Airy Road, and a three-way stop be set up at Davis Street at St. Therese's Church. Township manager Jell Box said the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation turned down a request from residents several years ago to set up a four-way stop at Mount Airy Road and Pio- neer Ave. Because the stale has responsibility for Pioneer Ave., it must approve all traffic control devices installed there. Once in- stalled, the township is respon- sible for their maintenance. Yellow signs warning drivers approaching the school bus stop are posted 1/10 of a mile north and south ofit; but the sign on the southbound side is heavily de- faced by grafitti and an oblong sticker. At the crest of the hill past the defaced sign, the road curves just before the stop. One Monday morning at around 8:30 a small white car whizzed by the bus stop in the southbound lane. 2: . “There goes one,’ “That's no 35 mph.” Mosl passing cars stop flor the bus; but occasionally one sneaks by, he said. Carey believes a stop sign at Overbrook Ave. would go a long way in 'slowing traffic down, but the intersection is in Dallas Town- “We have no control over that,” he said. Kelly Gill, 11, and her sister, Nicole -Garey, 6, waited for the school bus at Carey's stop, which isnext to their home. Their mother, Beverly. Comparetta, kept an eye on them from the window of their apartment. “I worry about the traffic,” Comparetia said. “It’s constantly busy. We'll probably see more once the road work starts. We're lucky tohave such a good crossing guard here.” ' Carey said. The girls aren't allowed to play on therroad, she said. She takes them to a nearby park toride their bikes because the road is so busy. Kim and Dan Anderson, who - come every afternoon to pick up their son in first grade, would like to see flashing warning lights when the buses pass through. “They really {ly through here,” Kim said. “Not too many people pay atlention to the speed limit.” Every day Andrea Williams waits for her daughter at the cor- ner of Pioneer Ave. and Roushey Street. She describes the traffic as “lousy.” “Ihave lived here all my life and have seen lots of bad traffic,” she said. “I's heaviest between 7 and 8 a.m. and 4 and 5 p.m., when people are rushing to their jobs in the valley. Getting out of my drive- way is a joke. I nearly got hit several limes because people sometimes speed through here.” . Williams believes more police patrols-would help solve the prob- lem. No crossing guard was on duly Manday afternoon. According (o police chief Jim Balavage, none is assigned to this section of Pioneer Ave. - “The school district suggests to us where they want crossing guards: placed,” he said. "The guards’ main function is to direct traffic al intersections so the stu- dents can board or leave the buses safely’ and traffic can move smoothly.” He said he doesn't know why no’ crossing guard works there afterfigons. Box: has promised to have po- lic e “aggressively enforce the speed limits on all township roads.” “It's premature to say there will ® bv be a problem on Pioneer Ave. once Nicole Garey, 6, and her sister Kelly Gill, 11, wait for their school bus along Pioneer Ave., watched over by Ron Carey, who has been a crossing guard since 1983. At right, a sign warning of the bus stop is defaced by graffiti and a pasted on piece of paper. POST PHOTOS construction begins,” he said. “I can only deal in facts. PennDOT has promised us that when the construction is finished, the new computerized traffic light loops will keep traffic flowing freely.” Police chief Jim Balavage doesn’t consider Pioneer Ave. near Mount Airy Road to be a high- accident area, compared to the rest of the township's 45 miles of roads, although he admits it can be a problem. “For the past five years it has averaged two accidents per year.” he said. “People usually obey the posted speed limits, but some are in a hurry and go too fast. We regularly patrol Pioneer Ave. be- tween Roushey Street and St. Therese's, where we have prob- lem areas between April and No- vember.” : He agreed that Pioneer Ave. . could potentially become the f(a- vored alternate route to bypass the construction coming to Route 309, but “we're prepared for it. We'll definitely pay more atten- tion to it. We always aggressively enforce our speed limits and try our best to handle specific com- plaints and the areas we know to be problems.” Installing stop signs isn't the answer, he said. Stop signs aren't intended to slow traffic down, al- though slower traffic is one of their results. PennDOT district traffic engi- neer Ron Bonacci agreed that slop signs aren't intended as speed control devices. “Unwarranted slop signs used for speed control usually tend to breed contempt for the devices and create a false sense of secu- rity for side street traffic and pe- destrians crossing the intersec- tion," he said. “This could have a negative or reverse impact on tral- fic safety.” I HURST Patio Rooms HOME SPECIALTIES COMPANY |: In Business Over 40 Years 527 Scolt St. Wilkes-Barre, PA (737) 824-3572 1-800-233-7284 Quality Products Innovative Ideas + Windows » Doors + Awnings In order for an intersection to be considered [or a stop sign, it must meet a set of strict, compli- cated criteria designed by the state, based on the number. of cars and pedestrians passing a specific point and the area's acci- dent history. The minimum {traffic volume musl be between 400 and 500 vehicles per hour entering all points of the intersection for any eight hours of an average day. For the accident history, the only ac- cidents which PennDOT recog- nizes are right-angle, right-turn or left-turn collisions. Additionally, a safe line-of-sight distance for an intersection’s ap- proaches, for example over the crest of the hill, is taken into account after being determined by a complicated mathematical formula. Several Kingston Township residents wrote to PennDOT in 1992 requesting stop signs on Pioneer Ave: at Davis Street and Mount Airy Road. PennDOT de- nied the request because the road didn't meet the criteria - there was loo little traffic and too few accidents there. PennDOT suggested [our rem- edies to the situation: Install cross- walks al each intersection, install pedestrian crossing warning signs on each approach to each inter- section, relocate the bus stop or request a state study of the 35 mph speed limit to determine if it should be lowered. The Dallas School District des- ignates bus stops, according to Aransportation director Susan Farr. “We ry to sel them up as close to the children's homes as pos- sible or, for several children in one area, in the safest possible place,” she said. “We change them whenever we [eel it's necessary.” The district changed the bus stop [rom Mount Airy Road to Pugh Associates several years ago alter discussing it with the children’s parents. “Al Mount Airy Road there wasn't a sale place for the chil- dren to wait for the bus," she said. “They stood on the side of the road. You have to consider how far apart you want the bus to make its stops — you don't want to tie up traffic. But you also don't want the children walking too far along the road. The children's salety is our main concern.” She doesn't anticipate moving the stop in the near future. Spouse Sale = 10% to 25% Off Many Styles to choose from Free Gift Wrapping THE FURNITURE WORKSHOP 115 W. Center Hill Rd., Dallas 675-5288 Great Gift Idea Sale Ends March 30 THE s Chicken EE DOUGH COMPANY "Your Hometown Restaurant" All Week Special Parmesan w/ Spaghetti & Salad 675-7347 Near Rt. 309-415 Intersection Open Daily 11:00 a.m. : ; : “ep EE EE EE EE $4.99 a _ ny Fund established to help = | woman burned out of homé' By GRACE R. DOVE Post Staff SWEET VALLEY - A fund has been set up to help Mrs. Clara Joan Kittle, 58, who lost her mo- bile home Saturday in a six-alarm fire. According to her friend, Nancy Bell, Mrs. Kittle has no insurance to cover the loss of her home, all her possessions and her beloved seal point Himalayan cat. “We were on our way to Ten- nessee for a mini-vacation and heard about the fire when we checked in with my husband,” Mrs. Bell said. "We turned right around and came back.” rs } K A J, « Mrs. Kittle lost her husband, Sam, last July and has a son, Sam, III, who broke his neck in'a car accident and is quadraplegies, '- she added. vf “Mrs. Kittle would do anything: for her neighbors,” Mrs. Bell said.” | “It's her neighbors’ turn to Ispay - her many kindnesses.” Donations may be sent to he Clara Joan Kittle Fire Fund, care of Luc¢y Achulf. PNC Bank, 325" Memorial Highway, Dallas PA * 18612. Checks or money orders’: should be made out to the fund. People willing to donate theif services to help Mrs. Kittle may * reach her at 477-2441 or Naneys : Bell at 477-3500. Harry Owen (continued from page 1) amount of money in a waste bas- ket. “I had sold some Christmas candles for the fire company and had accumulated about $2,000 in a cigar box,” Sabol said. “It was Friday night and all the banks were closed. I had planned to go flintlock hunting the next morn- ing and didn't know what to do with the money, so I taped the box shut and hid it under some pa- pers in my waste basket.” When he returned the follow- ing Monday, Owen had of course emptied the waste basket. “I checked the dumpster and searched high and low for it,” Sabol said. “Harry had found it and held on to it until I came back. He could have kept it and not said anything, but the thought never entered his mind.” Township manager Jell Box recalled that when Owen retired Eye screening at Senior Center last December, the employees” chipped in to give him a monetary gift at their holiday party. The supervisors gave him a plaque honoring his many years of ser- vice. $5 “It was very special for the su- pervisors to honor him in front of his family and the other employ, ees,” Box said. "With his great Infeprly and strong work ethic, | Harry is the epitome of the hon- est, faithful smployes. We'll. All miss him.” 4: Before coming to work in, Trucksville, Owen pul signs on billboards and worked al the Woodward colliery Edwardsville. He and his wife, Minerva, are , the proud parents of Ruth Rob- ins erts, who lives in Jackson 1 own-, ship, and Lt. Col. Harry Owen, -, who is an attorney and . i$. They also have five grandchildren. - ,,- Jr.; serving in the Army. BO ORE RT, Dr. Curtis Goodwin will be conducting an eye screening at the Dallas Senior Center, 22: Rice St., Tues., Mar. 26 al 9:30 a.m. The screening is sponsored by the Luzerne /Wyoming Counties Bureau for the Aging. [| THE BAY WINDOW 100 E. Overbrook Rd., gh | Shavertown, PA 18708 Fo 675-6400 Rac | Antiques, folk art, ff; gifts & collectibles Hours: Mon. - Sat. 10-5 ® Sun. Noon - 4 yo iM DEEDDLIS J &]J Deli "Catering for any Occasion" 659 Memorial Hwy., Dallas, PA (Owned & Operated by Jim & Jan Wertman) Taking Orders for Easter Try Our Smoked Boneless Hams from "The Country Store" Whole or half - starting at $3. 59 Ib. £5 Nut and Poppy Rolls - Cheesecakes by Carol Ann Jon L. Stopay EASTER Candy 675-6139 W.ddi i gs : Is Proms Jah Mother ol He B Gradualions il rrae CASUALS ROUTE 6, DICKSON any’ JUST 14 MILE ABOVE THEE VIEWMONT MALLY 2 OPEN 99 DAILY +, -, 11:5 SUNDAY 1 » i BE hE SR ge me sms a a Hn ps a A A tt em A a ae om
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers