Township Council Wants Cable Median Barrier on Interstate 78

Editor's Note: According to Ronald Young, District Press Officer for PennDOT Engineering District 5, the plans to install a cable median barrier along I-78 are not recent and were first announced in October 2009 as part of an American Recovery & Reinvestment Act project totaling almost $10 million. The aim of the project is "to improve I-78 between exit 60 (PA 309/PA 145) and the New Jersey state line. The project began in the fall of 2009 and will finish this year," Young said. The work is to be completed by Kinsley Construction, Inc., of York, Pa.

Ever since a Lower Saucon Township man crossed over the median separating I-78's eastbound and westbound lanes Jan. 25, improving safety along the accident-prone stretch of interstate has been a hot topic both locally and regionally.

Just days after occurred, the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation announced .

However, local fire and emergency response officials told Lower Saucon Township Council members Feb. 2 that they want the township to weigh in on the matter now, in effect putting additional pressure on PennDOT to follow through on its promise.

"Sooner or later, we need to get this [cable median barrier] up there to prevent death or injury," Chief Thomas Barndt told council members, adding that for first responders "that highway is one of the scariest places."

Barndt requested that township council send a letter to PennDOT advocating for the installation of the barrier, which is designed to stop crossover traffic from entering opposing lanes of travel without ejecting it back into the lanes from which it veered.

Contrary to some reports, Barndt said, a cable median barrier is capable of stopping a runaway tractor-trailer "right in its tracks."

He has photographs of a semi that has been stopped by a cable median barrier, which is designed to stretch but not give, he added.

"They need a letter," council member Priscilla deLeon agreed. "They need to hear from us that we support this."

DeLeon requested that state representatives Justin Simmons and Bob Freeman and state senator Lisa Boscola be copied on the letter, and suggested that Northampton County also be notified of its drafting.

Captain John Bate, who is also a member of Hellertown Borough Council and was in attendance at the meeting, said volunteer emergency responders from Hellertown and Lower Saucon Township are often first to arrive on scene following accidents on the busy interstate and need any additional protection that can be provided.

"That's all we can ask you guys," he said. "[We need] a little help here to make sure they don't put it on the back burner," he added, referring to PennDOT's just-announced plans.

Council members, who voted with Sandra Yerger absent, unanimously agreed to support the drafting of a letter from the township to PennDOT urging for the barrier's erection.

On a pre-posted agenda, Bate is listed as a courtesy of the floor speaker on the subject of "I-78 crossover traffic accidents/fatalities" at Hellertown Borough Council's meeting scheduled for 7pm this evening.