COLUMBIA, Pa. -- The Route 441 bypass in Columbia, Lancaster County, was finished in October and was supposed to open in early November. But one traffic light is causing a major problem.
The traffic light on Front Street by the train tracks is not timed correctly, so cars would be backed up over three railroad tracks. When the bypass opens, increased traffic will cause the problem to worsen. But Pennsylvania Department of Transportation is trying to solve the issue. They are getting a preemptive signal.
Fritzi Schreffler with PennDOT said, "The signal will actually be able to tell that there's a train coming, and it will be able to change the signals to allow any traffic that might be coming across the tracks at that point to clear the tracks."
One of the goals of the bypass was to prevent large trucks from driving on Columbia's main roads. Schreffler said the Columbia Borough Administration is not thrilled that the bypass is still closed. They recently paved some of the main streets with the idea that the bypass would be open by now.
"The paving was with the understanding that the trucks would not be coming through town because that's all part of it is the heavy trucks coming through town and rutting the roads," Schreffler said.
The bypass remaining closed could also affect the opening of the Northwest Lancaster River Trail.
Mark Platts, president of the Susquehanna Gateway Heritage, said, "I think everybody in the community, on both sides of the river, both counties, is really anxious. Where whatever the issues are with traffic lights and things to be resolved because this project's been in the works for over a decade."
PennDOT hopes to solve the problem by the end of the week and will soon be announcing the day they are opening the bypass.