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Bill Scott outlines $73,000 plan to replace signal at High and Campbell streets
Summary
City engineers described a $73,000 engineering proposal to replace the aging High and Campbell intersection signal, funded in part by a PennDOT multimodal grant; council members pressed the city on match funding, traffic counts and timing for construction.
Council President Vidor and members of the Committee of the Whole heard a presentation from Bill Scott on a plan to replace the aging traffic signal at High and Campbell streets, including ADA upgrades at all four corners.
The project will include a new signal, updated crosswalks, push‑buttons and accessible ramps, and Scott gave a five‑task engineering fee breakdown that he said totaled $73,000. "Task 1 is traffic counts," Scott said, and he described tasks for a design report, survey, design, and bidding/inspection work.
The project matters to the city because the intersection is near the hospital and is a high‑priority safety location, Scott said. He added that the design work would occur through the remainder of the year and that the city would seek a PennDOT Highway Occupancy Permit (HOP) before bidding and construction, which he expects could occur next year. "It takes time to design these traffic signals," Scott said, noting that signal construction pricing has been volatile.
Finance staff answered committee questions about funding: the transcript shows the city has applied for a PennDOT Multimodal grant and budgeted a local match; staff stated the grant award is $405,769 with a 30% city match budgeted at $121,731. Scott and staff explained that grants commonly cover a portion of engineering (the grant program typically allows about 10% of engineering costs), and the city intends to account for engineering costs against the match and reimbursement process.
Council member Liz pressed on whether the city conducts traffic counts that sometimes show an existing signal is unnecessary. Scott replied that counts can lead to such findings and that the city is pursuing in‑house counters (noting work allowed under a Safe Streets planning grant) so staff can perform more of that analysis directly.
There was no formal vote recorded in the transcript on the engineering resolution during this meeting; the discussion closed with staff and council members reviewing budget assumptions and scheduling next steps for design and permitting.
