PennDOT Customer Care Says to Take Your Concerns Somewhere Else
PennDOT has a website devoted to your concerns, but the responses you get suggest they are anything but concerned. In response to the death of Bailey Lentz Veitch on February 5, PennDOT sent the response below (emphasis added).
After review, it has been determined that this concern falls under the management of the local city or municipality. Because of this, you will need to contact the city/municipality with your concern.
Information from PennDOT specific to your concern is as follows...
The Department is always willing to work with municipalities, local officials, and other public organizations to research and develop local projects directed at improving highway safety. Your ideas would be best directed to the Department through any of these entities. The sidewalk in question ends at Breakneck Road due to the fact that Breakneck Road is the boundary between the City of Connellsville and Connellsville Township. Sidewalks are not always included in Department projects. Requests for sidewalks are usually made by the local municipality.
Should you require any additional information as to why this concern is for the city/municipality, please contact Bryan Walker at brywalker@pa.gov or at 724-439-7345.
In response to the death of Aria Woznick on February 24, PennDOT sent a very similar email (emphasis added).
Your concern has been addressed with the following information from PennDOT...
Thank you for your safety inquiry regarding this tragic event. The Department is always willing to work with municipalities, local officials, and other public organizations to research and develop local projects directed at improving highway safety. Your ideas would be best directed to the Department through any of these entities. They can then reach out to PennDOT to collaborate on solutions to these issues.
Should you require any additional information, please contact Bryan Walker at brywalker@pa.gov or at 724-439-7345.
Bryan Walker is the District Traffic Engineer for PennDOT District 12. That PennDOT District is responsible for Fayette, Green, Washington, and Westmoreland Counties. I have gotten less dismissive responses from PennDOT District 11, which covers Lawrence, Beaver, and Allegheny Counties.
The responses provided illustrate two points.
PennDOT thinks of all the roads they are responsible for as highways. Both of these crashes happened on low-speed local roads that just happened to be owned by PennDOT because they are important connections between communities, not because they are highways. PennDOT needs to be held accountable for treating slow, high-access, multi-user roads they same way they treat highways.
PennDOT does not care what you think: they care what elected officials think. This further emphasizes the need to work with local and state officials to get PennDOT to do anything.
To put pressure on PennDOT to respond to the death of Bailey Lentz Veitch, please contact the Connellsville Township Supervisors here, the Fayette County Commissioners here, State Representative Ryan Warner here, and State Senator Pat Stefano here. To put pressure on PennDOT to respond to the death of Aria Woznick, please contact North Belle Vernon Borough here, the Westmoreland County Board of Commissioners here, State Representative Eric Davanzo here, and State Senator Kim Ward here.