Philmont Ave., Tomlinson Rd. & Pine Rd. Intersection Improvement Project
Project Location
Overview
In conjunction with Lower Moreland Township, the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation will be advancing this project to construct a multi-lane roundabout at the intersection of Philmont Avenue (S.R. 2013), Pine Road (S.R. 2050), and Tomlinson Road in Lower Moreland Township, Montgomery County. The project proposes replacing the existing 6-legged, signalized intersection with a 5-legged multi-lane roundabout. The intersection currently experiences heavy delay during peak hours as well as other periods throughout the day due primarily to the multiple signal phases and the need to provide green time to each of the 6 approaches. The provision of green time to the Pine Road and Tomlinson Road approaches results in additional delay for the Philmont Avenue approaches. Furthermore, the narrow widths and lack of auxiliary turn lanes for the Pine Road and Tomlinson Road approaches result in the need for more green time to allow the approaches to operate acceptably. As a result, the intersection experiences very heavy delays and lengthy traffic queues on multiple approaches during peak hours.
The proposed intersection improvements include realignment of the northern leg of Pine Road to properly intersect the roundabout and realignment of the northern leg of Tomlinson to intersect Pine Road (S.R. 2050) at a point approximately 150 feet north of the roundabout. Additionally, a second eastbound and westbound through lane is proposed along Philmont Avenue (S.R. 2013). The project also proposes a realignment of 1,200 feet of a Branch of Huntingdon Valley Creek Tributary No. 2A and the replacement of two (2) existing culverts with proposed precast/cast-in-place concrete box culverts on Philmont Avenue (S.R. 2013) and Pine Road (SR 2050).
The southern leg of Tomlinson Road is proposed to be reconstructed from Philmont Avenue (S.R. 2013) to Nandina Street (the City of Philadelphia limits) to replace the poor/failed existing pavement and to widen the roadway to provide 5-foot shoulders in each direction. The road widening along Tomlinson Avenue requires improvements to the SEPTA rail crossing located 630 feet south of the proposed roundabout, including relocation of the existing gate arms for the at-grade rail crossing and installation of new pedestrian and bike grade crossing accommodations.
Bicycle and pedestrian safety accommodations are proposed throughout the project corridor, including 5-foot-wide shoulders and 5-foot-wide sidewalks along all legs of the roundabout. Sidewalks and shoulders will extend approximately 2,000 feet to the south on Tomlinson Road to provide pedestrian and bicycle connectivity to the train station and the existing facilities along Rennard Street. Pedestrian accommodations include ADA-compliant facilities (ADA ramps, crosswalks, etc.) at the roundabout, and Road Rapid Rectangular Flashing Beacons (RRFB) is proposed for all pedestrian crossings on Philmont Avenue at the roundabout.
Lower Moreland Township has substantially completed the preliminary engineering for the project. The Department will be completing the design development and constructing the project.