THE SPOOKY STOP SIGN SAWER STRIKES!

It was a recent bright sunny afternoon when I received a horrifying cell phone text image form a local resident. The stop sign at Yorkshire Drive on the west side of Lower Dolington Road (LDR) was sawed off!

A gruesome piece of the pole was still sticking up from the ground and the rest of the pole lay within the Woods of Saxony shrubbery nearby (see photo). The sign itself was nowhere to be found!

WHO DID THIS HORRIBLE MASSACRE OF PUBLIC PROPERTY?

Was it the contractor who constructed the LDR trail and was ordered to relocate some signs, including a stop sign?

At the October 25, 2023, Board of Supervisors (BOS) meeting, I asked Leanna Colubriale, the Township Engineer, if she knew who did it – was it the contractor or her company (RVE)? “I don't know who removed it to be honest,” she responded. The following video clip documents the exchange we had regarding this:

Upon my followup request to the Township Manager, the Newtown Public Works Department placed a traffic cone over the pole remnant sticking up in the ground.

The mystery of WHO DID IT?, however, remains unsolved.

Mystery Takes a Twist

On November 4, 2023, I took a hike up the LDR Trail to Yorkshire Drive to see if there was any further work involving the stop sign at that location. Lo and Behold! The sign was back up as shown in the photo. 

However, it is now about two feet south of its original location – closer to Yorkshire Drive. A traffic cone covers the hole left behind where the short piece of the pole was sticking up out of the ground.

I noticed that the pole was secured to this short buried piece by nuts and bolts (see insert). This leads me to believe that the pole was NOT originally sawed off as surmised by me and the resident who reported this to me! Several other signs along the trail were also secured this way. I’m not sure this is the most secure method to ensure that these signs stay put.

According to the November 2, 2023, Engineer’s Report “The Contractor has begun addressing punchlist items on 10/27/2023. RVE [the township engineering firm] is currently inspecting the work performed.” It is still not confirmed who has done this work on the Yorkshire stop sign!

Meanwhile, this and other new stop signs on LDR remain covered. Why??? Stay tuned!

Posted on 27 Oct 2023, 11:42 - Category: Public Safety