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We recently received a reader’s story about open records through our “send us your story” form.

Here is Glenn Smith’s story, in his own words:

Back in mid-2006, the Orrstown Borough Council voted unamimously that there urgently needed to be a 4-Way stop sign in the center of our borough. Unfortunately for us, that intersection is where State Roads 533 & 433 come together, which makes that a decision for PennDOT to make. We applied to PennDOT. They said a Traffic & Engineering Study had to be done. One was done. It measured traffic flow (volume), analyzed the intersection in terms of sight distance through the intersection, and
looked at the historical records of the number of crashes at the intersection.

As background, the intersection currently has a stop sign on 433 but none on 533. SR 533 makes an abrupt, 30-degree (approximately) turn in the middle of the intersection. We conducted our own survey, and found that 95% of the vehicles traveling west through the intersection drifted over into the oncoming lane (remember that there is a bend in the middle of the intersection) — and more than 65% of the vehicles observed in a 40+ hour period exceeded the posted 35 MPH speed limit when they passed through the intersection. The fact is that vehicles approaching the intersection, which we maintain is blind because of the bend, have a closing rate of 70 MPH. (One vehicle was observed passing through the intersection at 70 MPH by itself.) Compounding the problem is that Orrstown has a high incidence of Mennonite horse & buggy traffic through that intersection, especially on Sundays.

After making ts Traffic & Engineering Study, PennDOT sent the Orrstown Borough Council a letter denying our request for a 4-Way stop because we “did not meet the warrants.” When the borough’s elected officials asked in what way we did not meet the warrants, they were told that the information was “confidential,” in other words, the elected officials directly responsible to the citizens of the borough for public safety were not allowed to know why PennDOT did not think there was a sufficient safety concern to warrant the request.

That decision was appealed to higher PennDOT management, and again denied without a stated reason (other than “confidentiality). That decision was then appealed to the PennDOT “Right to Know” office, and was again denied with essentially the same response. It is worth noting that none of the above appeals was even acknowledged until a request for assistance was filed with our state representative.

Having exhausted all possible appeals with PennDOT, the borough then wrote a letter to the governor asking that he direct PennDOT to release the results of the “confidential” Traffic & Engineering Study to the Orrstown Borough Council. That request was never formally answered. However, PennDOT officials contacted this official and said that we could “look” at the Traffic & Engineering Study at the PennDOT office in Harrisburg or that they would bring it to Orrstown for us to “look” at. We chose the latter option, and two PennDOT managers came to the borough to allow us to look at the study results. The report had a
considerable amount of data (many pages of technical information), we were not allowed to make copies, so all the information we needed had to be memorized and retained only in our minds.

This process of study, appeals, and review of this simple request took more than a year to complete. We still do not have a 4-Way stop sign.

The borough still believes that a 4-Way stop is necessary for the safety of its citizens. (Worth noting is the fact that SR 533 runs from Shippensburg to Pleasant Hall, a distance of nine miles without a single stop sign or light, making this one stop seem to be a minor inconvenience for the motoring public while providing a partial remedy to what local elected officials believe to be a serious safety issue.)

The BIG QUESTION in this case is: Why is the recorded number of vehicles that pass through a particular intersection, OR the recorded number of crashes at that intersection, OR the factual observed sight distance through the intersection, A STATE SECRET?

We’d like to thank Glenn for sharing his story with us. If you would like to share your story, please submit it to our site. With your help, we can show that citizens all across Pennsylvania are frustrated with the hurdles they face in order to obtain open records.