The Center Township supervisors' approval of a study of Holyoke Road between Sunset Drive and Route 308 makes sense.

The amount of new development along the roadway, coupled with the tragic death of a Holyoke resident who was killed by a speeding car that went out of control and entered her yard, makes a re-evaluation of the roadway at this time an appropriate decision.

But beyond that and eclipsed by the discussion regarding the situation on Holyoke is the fact that Holyoke is not the only township roadway that will be re-evaluated.

While the official study approved by the supervisors — which will be conducted by a paid consultant — encompasses only Holyoke, Mark Lauer, township road manager, said all township arteries would be evaluated to ensure that the best signs are being used for traffic control and to determine trouble spots and ways to remedy them.

Lauer will be in charge of that initiative that presumably will be conducted as his time permits.

Periodically, every municipality should conduct an evaluation of all of its roads. Whether sight lines are adequate, whether additional signage is needed and whether visibility at intersections still is adequate are some of the issues on which such an evaluation should focus.

Additionally, determining whether electronic traffic control should be added to some intersections, due to higher volumes of traffic or for other reasons, can be another positive aspect of such an evaluation, even if that action is not immediately forthcoming due to funding constraints.

The information collected could be the basis for future budgeting.

In studying the roads, other related findings dealing with such things as drainage or deteriorated berms could be added to the municipality's work-that-needs-to-be-done agenda.

At some future meeting, hopefully Lauer will be prepared to deliver a detailed report of his findings.

The consultant that will be hired for Holyoke presumably will make such a report.

Residents who urged that Center Township's supervisors approve corrective measures for Holyoke referred to poor visibility, speeding and the need for a stop sign at the intersection of Holyoke and Orchard Drive. A Holyoke traffic study conducted in 1997 showed no need for a stop sign at that location, but development along the roadway since then, coupled with an increase in traffic using the road, might now necessitate one.

The Center supervisors, in response to the fast-paced development in the municipality, must be agreeable to studies at shorter intervals of all aspects of township operations, including whether a township police department is needed.

The Holyoke study and the evaluation under Lauer's supervision are steps in the right direction.