Jefferson Township set to lower speed limit on Bullcreek Road
JEFFERSON TWP — The township’s board of supervisors voted to begin the process to lower the speed limit on a section of Bullcreek Road from 40 mph to 35 mph during its meeting Monday, July 10.
This is being done in response to a speed study performed by a Local Technical Assistance Program from the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation. The study recommended lowering the speed limit on its portion of Bullcreek Road to 35 mph.
“It’s a safer speed, a more proper speed for its usage on Bullcreek Road in our section of it,” said John Cypher, chairman of the board of supervisors.
Bullcreek Road is a winding rural north-south road with its northernmost point in Butler Township (intersecting with Saxonburg Road) and ending in Jefferson Township, where it merges with Frazier Road. Along the way, there is a section that runs through Summit Township.
The idea of lowering the speed limit on the road came from a concerned citizen of Jefferson Township, Bob Veselich, who was present at Monday night’s meeting. Veselich said lowering the speed limit to 35 mph would make the limit on Jefferson’s section of the road the same as the section that goes through Butler Township.
“We want to look at all of our roads as we periodically do, whether it be a state road in our jurisdiction or whether it's a township road,” Cypher said. “We looked at our ordinance and then we thought, ‘You know, it is maybe a better idea at that speed.’ But until we did a study to upend our prior ordinance, we have no basis to change it. So following proper protocol, we did the study through LTAP to determine whether or not 35 would be proper for it.”
While Jefferson Township has laid the groundwork to lower the speed limit on its portion of Bullcreek Road, nothing will officially be done until the township drafts, advertises, and then approves the ordinance change, which makes the speed limit change a reality.
According to Cypher, this ordinance change may be done in “a couple of months.”
