Truck traffic and speeding on Route 130 in Trafford is no longer just a nuisance.

For resident Mark Horgas, the issues now pose a danger to the community.

Horgas has lived on the Seventh Street Extension of Route 130 for 22 years. He said the number of heavy vehicles is increasing and drivers are speeding more than ever before — so much so that Horgas raised the issue at a recent Trafford council meeting.

It has become more dangerous for Horgas to pull out of his driveway because of vehicles speeding as they come around a nearby blind turn coming into Trafford.

“It’s becoming not only a nuisance now, but also a hazard to the residential area,” Horgas said.

Noise produced by the Jake Brakes on large trucks as they descend the hill also is disturbing, he said.

“If you can feel it inside of your house, you know there’s a problem,” Horgas said.

Children visiting the park at the intersection of Route 130 and Woodlawn Drive also are at risk, according to Horgas. Although there are road signs warning oncoming drivers of the park’s proximity, he said children trying to cross the street are still in a dangerous position because of the blind curves in either direction.

Seventh Street Extension resident Joseph Kopnitsky agrees.

“When the kids cross (the street), they have to be careful,” said Kopnitsky, who grew up in Trafford and returned to purchase his childhood home in 1987. “If you look up and down, there’s a bend to our left here and there’s a bend to the right. If someone’s going 50 mph, you take a look and there’s nobody there. A split second later, they’re there.”

Bill Treusch, a 10-year resident of Seventh Street Extension, said he frequently bikes to the nearby Westmoreland Heritage Trail, and understands the concerns voiced by parents with young children.

“I don’t have any concern riding my bike back and forth. I guess some people are thinking about the younger kids. I do see a lot of kids riding their bikes on this road to go over to the trail,” Treusch said.

Treusch said he has noticed motorists speeding fairly often.

“I’m pretty sure people go a little above the posted speed limit here. I haven’t in a while, but I used to see people get pulled over all the time for speeding,” he said. “At least for this section, it seems like they monitor… a bit better. I do know that I see a lot of people get pulled over at that playground down there.”

Kopnitsky said speeding has worsened in recent years.

“I would say 99% of the people are going over the speed limit, and probably 10 to 15 mph over the speed limit,” Kopnitsky said. “There’s got to be kids going past here at night over 60 mph because I wonder how they make the bend sometimes.”

After hearing Horgas’ concerns, council began working with the police department, state Rep. George Dunbar and PennDOT on a solution.

“Speeding has become more commonplace,” council President Kris Cardiff said. “Same thing with running stop signs … I don’t know why drivers are doing that or what the perception is, but there seems to be a lot more speeding and running of stop signs that has been brought up to us during council meetings.”

Cardiff said the police department has been patrolling Seventh Street Extension more frequently, and the council collaborated with Dunbar to draft a traffic survey request letter for PennDOT. That was sent last week.

“We’ll back whatever the borough wants to do,” Dunbar said.

PennDOT District Engineer Bryan Walker said traffic surveys typically take a couple weeks to complete.

Once PennDOT receives the request from a municipality, they review it, submit a response, come to an agreement on what to assess and spend at least one day completing field measurements. In the case of Route 130, Walker predicts the primary focus of the survey will be Jake Brakes and speeding.

Assuming the trucks and their brake systems are all within municipality guidelines, Walker said there is nothing PennDOT can do to divert truck travel from Route 130.

In regard to speeding, PennDOT has the authority to change the speed limit on roads posted at 40 mph and above if deemed necessary based on traffic survey results.

Since Seventh Street Extension has a speed limit of 35 mph, Walker said it will be up to the municipality to decide to change the speed limit after the survey results are delivered.

Cardiff said the borough will continue to work with PennDOT to determine what course of action is most appropriate.

Kopnitsky said he is eager to see a solution to the problem.

“If (the borough) has a plan to do something, that would be great, because it needs done,” he said. “To me, it just seems like traffic keeps getting faster and faster. It’s a concern here.”

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