LAMAR — Porter Township’s supervisors and road crews are continuing to work towards ensuring motorists that travel in its busiest portions of the municipality are safe.

In 2024 the township was awarded a TSTG Traffic Signal Technology Grant Program from Pennsylvania State Department of Transportation. The grant will be used to improve its traffic signals near the on and off ramps of Interstate 80 — a location that also houses three different truck stops and sees a large amount of traffic.

With Interstate 80 reaching across the farm fields and agriculture land, the busy interstate intersects with state Route 64 (Nittany Valley Drive), a major throughway.

The township’s road crew had a cold, late night Monday, being called out to service the traffic lights. The need arose due to the bad weather conditions causing accidents and increasing traffic in the area.

According to information provided by township officials, the crew manually operated the signals, overriding the mechanics of the eight traffic lights to keep the traffic moving to clear up jams for hours from I-80, Route 64 and all the local roads that get backed up within the township.

“This obstacle will always be a concern for Porter Township Supervisors and road crew, no matter what time of the year it is,” a release from the township said. “When accidents occur on I-80 and the traffic is forced to stop it backs up for many miles. Congestion and confusion grows with the accessibility of three truck stops located on Route 64 with the entrance and exit of east and west bound ramps.”

According to the release, the Clinton County Communication Center and state police notify township officials and its roadmaster, Rich Brungard, when an accident occurs that causes a shutdown on the interstate.

The shutdowns can cause stopped traffic for a wide range of vehicles including multiple tractor trailers, which will find alternate routes within the township on its local roads — many of which are not accessible for large vehicles.

This can lead to vehicles being stuck on rural roads and through agriculture areas as they attempt to find an alternate route to avoid sitting in a stand-still.

“Thank goodness for his years of experience from Roadmaster Rich Brungard and employee Tyler Plessinger who manually operate the traffic light system for hours to control the flow of traffic in all directions,” the release said. “The township supervisors are always on call. The Nittany Valley Volunteer Fire Company often is involved to assist when members are available.”

According to information from township officials, the TSTG grant will help mitigate these issues, with work on improvements beginning in the summer 2024.

“Porter Township Supervisors, Philip Courter, Keith Yearick and Ryan Gates, are always challenged with the matter of the township having a critical corridor of traffic that affects the overall traffic flow on I-80,” the release said. “Kudos to the Porter Township road crew.”