Indiana Borough Council approves all‑pedestrian signals on Philadelphia Street, removes northbound left turn at Oakland Avenue

Indiana Borough Council voted on [date not specified] to implement a package of pedestrian safety measures on Philadelphia Street that includes push‑button, all‑red pedestrian phases at corridor intersections and removal of the northbound left‑turn from Oakland Avenue onto the 900 block of Philadelphia Street.

The measures, described in staff materials as “Option C,” were approved after a lengthy presentation by PennDOT District 10 and an hour of public comment focused on recent pedestrian fatalities. The motion passed on a roll‑call vote; council members directed staff to coordinate implementation and outreach with PennDOT and local police.

Why the council acted: PennDOT traffic engineers presented three options developed after two months of data collection and modeling along Philadelphia Street. Kirk Schreckengost, district traffic engineer for District 10, said the all‑pedestrian phase models showed an average increase of about one minute in travel time through the corridor but would give pedestrians an exclusive walk phase when activated. “Those models that we ran and estimated are our best kind of estimate or recommendation or guess at what will occur with the all pedestrian phase in different configurations along Philadelphia Street,” Schreckengost said. He told council that initial signal programming could be done quickly, with “another month to two months of monitoring” to tweak timings after installation.

What the council ordered: The council’s motion directs staff to implement push‑button, all‑red pedestrian phases for the corridor from 4th Street to 9th Street, add mid‑block lighted pedestrian signs at 8th and Carpenter, and prohibit the northbound left turn from Oakland Avenue onto the 900 block of Philadelphia Street. Borough staff and PennDOT said the left‑turn removal and the pedestrian phasing can be programmed in coordination; pavement markings, permit modifications and signage would be added as required.

Public reaction and context: Dozens of residents attended and several spoke during public comment. A close friend of Tina Perez, who was killed at a Philadelphia Street intersection, urged immediate action and said, “I will fundraise for it myself,” if the council would implement four‑way stops and safer crossings. Multiple speakers urged urgency and criticized prior removal of an X (diagonal) crosswalk, saying the change contributed to unsafe conditions.

Enforcement and unintended consequences: Council members and PennDOT staff repeatedly cautioned that re‑allocating green time to pedestrians could increase queues on Philadelphia Street and shift traffic to side streets such as Water Street, Church Street and Gompers Avenue. Chief Shaw said the police department would perform targeted enforcement where needed and urged residents to use a nonemergency reporting channel to flag emerging problem locations so officers could respond. PennDOT emphasized that driver and pedestrian behavior after implementation cannot be known with certainty until the signals are in place and observed.

Timing and next steps: PennDOT estimated a realistic schedule of roughly three to five weeks to program the signals and have contractor crews perform field work, followed by one to two months of monitoring and incremental adjustments. Staff said they will pursue grant funding for pedestrian infrastructure, examine ADA ramp needs to enable an eventual X crosswalk, and coordinate public education and signage so residents understand how the new phases operate. Council asked staff to prioritize community outreach and to report back on side‑street impacts and enforcement data during the monitoring period.

What remains unresolved: PennDOT’s modeling estimated average vehicle delay increases and counted traffic movements (for example, engineers recorded about 350 left‑turn vehicles in a 24‑hour period from northbound Oakland onto Philadelphia Street versus 2,444 right turns), but staff and residents acknowledged uncertainty about how drivers will divert and whether particular side streets will require additional controls.

The council’s vote implements a phased approach intended to prioritize pedestrian safety while monitoring and responding to traffic changes in adjacent neighborhoods.