Pennsylvania Turnpike exchange planned for Penn Township
PENN TOWNSHIP, Pa. (KDKA) — A Pennsylvania Turnpike exchange is planned for Penn Township.
While some are excited by the prospect of this new interchange bringing new economic opportunities to the area, some neighbors are worried about what an increase in traffic will bring.
"We are going to lose the quiet. We are going to lose our view of half of Westmoreland County," said Anita Lipinski.
Her husband Mike Lipinski not only shares her concerns but has another fear about a new turnpike interchange being built near where they live.
"I'm apprehensive about the traffic coming through cause, where I grew up, our house was right next to the main road. So, we've had a car come through it," Mike Lipinski said.
The two have lived in their house along Four Seasons Lane in Penn Township for decades. Four Seasons Lane is slated to become a feeder road for the soon-to-be-built interchange a half-mile away.
The Lipinskis don't know what can be done to stop their road from being developed, but they know their lives will soon be changing.
"It just is hard to take," said Anita Lipinski. "You know after growing up here and being here, that this is all going to go away and that I am going to have two lanes of heavy traffic with busses and trucks 30 to 40 feet from my front door."
Work on the new interchange is still years away, but it will see a big shift to the surrounding area near Route 130 and the intersections of Sandy Hill, Nike Site and Pleasant Valley Roads.
On its website, PennDOT says that the new interchange will improve access to both west and eastbound traffic on the turnpike, but that it will encourage economic development and growth in Westmoreland County.
On Thursday, KDKA reached out to PennDOT about this new interchange and the concerns put forward by members of the community. PennDOT sent us a statement saying:
"We are very early in the traffic impact study phase. We will continue to work with the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission to determine the impacts on traffic and the improvements needed to our state roads."
For now, things here along Route 130 will remain the same. Construction on this new exchange will be taking place likely in the fall of 2032.
