Essay #2-1st Draft (Letter)

130 Elmwood Avenue
Hanover, PA 17331

March 3, 2009

Scott Christie, P.E
District Executive, Pennsylvania Department of Transportation
2140 Herr StreetHarrisburg, PA 17103-1699

Mr. Scott Christie,

Have you ever found yourself driving down Mount Pleasant Road or Narrow Drive having to pull out into Hanover Pike (Route 194) in Mount Pleasant Township? If you have you know it is a disastrous, as well as frustrating intersection to try to get out of. There are blind spots from both directions due to houses surrounding the intersection by only a couple feet making this intersection hazardous for the many commuters who drive this route daily, to and from work. Every since Lovers Lane, connecting Route 194 to Narrow Drive was closed in April 2006, due to its needed $800,000 road repair. The road closing has forced all commuters who used to take this short cut to South Hanover to the intersection of Route 194 and Narrow Drive where it is hard to see.

There have been many press releases discussing the need to place a traffic light at the intersection in the Village of Mount Pleasant. According to an article in the Evening Sun on Sunday, February 28, 2009, the State of Transportation has still not given answers to why a traffic light has not been put up in the intersection with Hanover Pike, Narrow Drive, and Mount Pleasant Road. To push the approval of the traffic light by PennDOT, people even sent pictures and stories about bad accidents that have taken place on the frequently traveled route and have continued to ask questions without getting any feedback back from the Department of Transportation. Being an individual who has experienced traveling through the blind intersection, I think a traffic light is severely needed. The intersection is not just surrounded by homes close to the roadsides but by resident’s shrubberies in their landscapes.






­­Sincerely,




Amber Lescalleet
Student, Harrisburg Area Community College-Gettysburg