Westbound traffic on Seidersville Road is stopped at the red light at Rt. 378 in Lower Saucon Township. ‘No Turn on Red’ signs were recently installed at the intersection to regulate turning movements by drivers on both sides of Rt. 378.
Motorists who are used to turning right on red at the light at the intersection of Rt. 378 and Seidersville Road–one of the busiest intersections in Lower Saucon Township–might find themselves stopping short as they begin to turn, if they haven’t done so already.
That’s because “No Turn on Red” signs for both eastbound and westbound Seidersville Road traffic were recently installed on the light poles on either side of the state highway.
“No Turn on Red” signs can only be installed if one or more of the following conditions are found to exist, as the result of an engineering and traffic study, per the PA Motor Vehicle Code:
- The available corner sight distance between a driver desiring to turn on red and an approaching vehicle on the cross street is less than the minimum shown on the following table:
| Speed Limit or 85th Percentile Speed |
Minimum Sight Distance to Approaching Vehicle* |
||||||
| Std. | Cross Street Approach Grade |
||||||
| Values | -9% | -6% | -3% | 3% | 6% | 9% | |
| 25 | 152 | 173 | 165 | 158 | 147 | 143 | 140 |
| 30 | 197 | 227 | 215 | 205 | 200 | 184 | 179 |
| 35 | 247 | 287 | 271 | 257 | 237 | 229 | 222 |
| 40 | 301 | 354 | 333 | 315 | 289 | 278 | 269 |
| 45 | 360 | 427 | 400 | 378 | 344 | 331 | 320 |
| 50 | 424 | 507 | 474 | 446 | 405 | 388 | 375 |
| 55 | 493 | 593 | 553 | 520 | 469 | 450 | 433 |
*Measure sight distance from a location 10 feet before a marked pedestrian cross walk or, if none, 10 feet from the edge of the cross street roadway or curb line, where both the eye and the approaching vehicle are 3.5 feet high.
- The intersection has more than four approaches or has restrictive geometry that is likely to cause vehicular conflicts which are not easily recognized by drivers.
- The turning movement is allowed from more than one lane on a specific approach. The vehicular turning movement would result in significant vehicular and pedestrian conflicts, such as locations where the crosswalk is designated as a school crossing or is used by large numbers of children, senior citizens or persons with physical disabilities.
- Opposing traffic has unusual movements, such as double left turns, which would not be expected by drivers turning on a red signal.
- An analysis of vehicle crash data indicates that the turn-on-red movement has created an unsafe condition.
Under certain conditions a “part-time” or intermittent “No Turn on Red” sign may be used, per the Vehicle Code, which indicates that these signs are typically only installed at intersections where significant vehicle-pedestrian conflicts occur only during certain periods of time (for example–during the school year–in the morning when students are heading to school and again in the afternoon when they are walking home from school).
An email sent to township manager Leslie Huhn requesting more information about why the signs were installed and whether or not the township was informed wasn’t immediately answered.
Since Rt. 378 and Seidersville Road are both state-owned roads, PennDOT has jurisdiction over the intersection and the signs that are used to regulate traffic there.
Tell Us: Were the ‘No Turn on Red’ signs at this intersection needed? Why or why not?