CRANBERRY TWP — A 112-townhouse development along Freedom Road will move forward, after drawing the ire of some residents during a February hearing.

Cranberry Township supervisors on Thursday granted conditional use and preliminary land development approval to the Breckenridge development, which will feature 112 townhouses in roughly 18 acres along the north side of Freedom Road between Freedom Woods to the west and Georgetown Square on the east.

Breckenridge would be located at what is now 1129 Freedom Road.

During a public hearing in February, some residents raised concerns about traffic safety along that segment of Freedom should more than 100 residences be constructed, a topic supervisors addressed Thursday.

Supervisor Bruce Hezlep said he’s had to respond to numerous vehicle collisions over his years as a firefighter, adding line-of-sight and traffic safety questions along that stretch of Freedom “does concern” him.

Mike Malak, the township’s engineering and environmental services director, said the township cannot unilaterally decide to put in traffic lights or other measures to improve traffic safety along the road because Freedom Road is a state highway.

“We looked at every avenue, tried every angle with PennDOT to try to get a signal at this location. PennDOT went through the traffic study ... and (they) came back that it would not be warranted,” Malak said. “That doesn’t end our attempts to try to get a signal here. As (Supervisor) Chairman (Dick) Hadley said at our last meeting, we’re still going to try to get it.”

Malak added PennDOT already plans to make some improvements along that stretch of Freedom Road. PennDOT plans to implement grade changes along the stretch of the state highway during the Freedom Road project, according to Malak, which he said would “improve the sight distance and safety.”

Hezlep acknowledged other residents’ concerns about the township’s continuing development, but said Cranberry is bound by both state and local zoning regulations.

“When I became a supervisor eight years ago, I took a 60-hour class on what the rules are on how to govern land use, and one of the things that I’ve discovered is that every use needs to be covered in the community, so we need to zone for every usage,” Hezlep said. “We are bound by the commonwealth and by the courts, and the courts have held very, very strongly in favor of landowners.”

Although the township has to comply with these rules, Hezlep noted, Cranberry works to minimize the impact of new development on residents.

“If you asked the developers about working in Cranberry, I think that they would tell you that we are one of the more challenging communities to work with because we do have some of the more stringent” zoning regulations, he said.

Public records indicate a company called Freedom Road Associates LLC purchased three parcels of land that will be included in the development in February for a combined price of roughly $600,000.