Fatal North Huntingdon crash drives home safety concerns on Route 30
A three-car crash that killed a North Huntingdon motorist Thursday brought renewed focus on traffic safety on a stretch of Route 30 that crosses that township.
Investigators Friday hadn’t cited a specific cause for the wreck, near the intersection of Cherry Lane, west of Irwin. But local police and state transportation officials listed a lack of left-turn lanes and speeding as ongoing hazards for Route 30 drivers in that area.
“We get lots of crashes on Route 30. We get crashes everywhere, along eight or nine miles,” said North Huntingdon Police Chief Robert Rizzo. “The problem with the west end of Route 30 is, when left-turning cars stop, it creates issues, without turning lanes.”
Cars signaling a left turn at one of those locations are vulnerable as they cue up in the fast lane, while waiting for a break in opposing traffic.
PennDOT planners are proposing upgrades to the highway, including a median barrier, that are meant to make turning safer. But they note it’s up to drivers to ease off the gas.
“Speeding seems to be a problem,” said Rachel Duda, assistant district executive for design at PennDOT’s District 12 headquarters in Uniontown. “There are so many things that people are dealing with, and they’re driving way too fast.”
“Many of the side streets along Route 30 are signed for no left turns, and people still illegally make left turns,” Duda said.
PennDOT is working on a preliminary design for a project that would address safety along a 6-mile section of Route 30 — from Route 48 in North Versailles, Allegheny County, to 10th Street in Irwin.
Over a 20-year period, from Jan. 1, 1997, to Dec. 31, 2016, there were 1,617 vehicle crashes reported along that stretch, including 10 fatalities, according to a PennDOT study. With proposed improvements in place, PennDOT predicts it could prevent more than 1,100 crashes along the Route 30 segment in the coming two decades.
“We evaluated two alternatives — four lanes with a (median) barrier and five lanes, with a center turning lane,” Duda said of the project. “We’re proceeding with four lanes with a barrier.
“People are less likely to make a bad decision. They can’t turn left and they can’t be stopped to turn left.”
A vehicle crossing into opposing traffic was part of the deadly crash that occurred at about 6:43 p.m. Thursday on Route 30. According to a Westmoreland County Coroner’s report, an eastbound Hyundai Elantra shifted into the fast lane and struck a Jeep Wrangler — which crossed into the westbound lanes, colliding head-on with a Jeep Grand Cherokee.
Michael Iannace, 57, the driver of the Grand Cherokee, died of multiple blunt force trauma, according to Westmoreland County Coroner Ken Bacha.
North Huntingdon police said two other motorists were taken to area trauma centers — including a female passenger with serious injuries who was freed from Iannace’s vehicle and the driver of another vehicle. Their names and conditions weren’t available Friday.
Rather than turning lanes, jughandle intersections similar to ones on Route 22 in Westmoreland County, would allow motorists to turn left at key Route 30 intersections controlled by traffic signals.
Some business owners have voiced concern that a Route 30 median would create an extra barrier for motorists trying to reach their stores. But, Duda said, after the Route 22 improvements, “Businesses didn’t go out of business, they flourished.”
Duda said work likely would begin first on the western end of the Route 30 study area, possibly in 2024, but planners are still determining how to separate it into sections that could be pursued as individual projects.
Jeff Himler is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Jeff at 724-836-6622, jhimler@tribweb.com or via Twitter @jhimler_news.
