PennDOT 'Sneaks' into Whitemarsh

PennDOT crews have been doing work on Germantown Pike for about a week or so … and they didn’t RSVP.

At the end of the Whitemarsh Board of Supervisors meeting, several supervisors said (jokingly) that they were surprised when PennDOT crews started working on Germantown Pike earlier in the month.

Board of Supervisors Chairman Robert Hart asked township manager Richard Mellor how much notice the township got from the state agency.

“As far as I’m concerned, we didn’t get any notice at all,” Mellor replied. 

Township engineer James Sullivan said PennDOT is in the throes of a county-wide  road-paving project. PennDOT paved Germantown Pike and is now in the process of installing 28 handicapped-accessible curb cutout ramps, complete with warning detection — those little red bumps.

Sullivan said PennDOT is footing the bill, and added that crews should be finished with the project in two to four weeks.

Hart said he’s glad that the township is getting the curb cutouts, but said, “For the general public, dealing with PennDOT can be a challenge, almost 100 percent of the time.”

On the cutouts — and the surprise PennDOT work — Supervisor Cathy Peduzzi said jokingly, “I had a neighbor ask me [about the work] and I thought, ‘I’m sure it’s just a business making upgrades.’ I didn’t think it was official. It’s pretty embarrassing.”