3 Fatal car wrecks in just 8 days, all on the same six and a half mile stretch of road.
That was the story in late April on the Walker Township section of Route 64, also known as Nittany Valley Drive.
Dylan Huberman spoke with Walker Township Supervisors and the Township’s Roadmaster about it Today.
Walker Township officials say this ugly sequence on Route 64 was not normal, but it made some issues clear.
“First off, it’s just a long, straight stretch, which makes it like a racetrack coming down through there. There’s lots of left turns, right turns, people are not paying attention. Speeding, yes, people do speed.”
But Walker Township Roadmaster and fellow Supervisor Keith Harter says the road itself isn’t to blame.
“I don’t think it’s anything road-design or sight distance or anything like that. I think it’s just, like I said, at this point, it’s a coincidence of where they happened.”
Although this is definitely new here.
“Not to this magnitude, no. I mean, there has been accidents and some serious accidents but not…so many this close.”
Both supervisors are noticing more police presence lately, but they say that alone won’t suffice.
“People are going to speed and if there’s a cop there, they’re going to slow down for that couple of minutes and they’re going to go right back to speeding.”
“They’ll come, people will slow down, the police will leave, and they’ll start speeding up again.”
The board of supervisors will discuss asking penndot to conduct a safety study on the road at their next meeting, but for now
“Buckle up, slow down, pay attention.”
The supervisors will meet this Wednesday at 6 PM at the Walker Township Municipal Building.