White Township supervisors spent part of Wednesday's meeting listening to residents split down the middle over a proposed ordinance targeting junked, abandoned, and nuisance vehicles, even as they quietly moved forward on a separate $647,009 traffic signal contract at Wayne Avenue and Indian Springs Road. The two items landed on the same agenda but represent very different stages of township business: one is a still-unsettled policy fight over what residents can keep parked in their yards, and the other is a signed deal to fix a dangerous intersection.
Public commenters spoke both for and against the proposed changes to the junked, abandoned and nuisance vehicle ordinance, according to WCCS AM1160 & 101.1FM. Among the sticking points debated at the meeting was a rule concerning how residents would be required to cover junked vehicles kept on their property, the station reported. White Township Manager Chris Anderson said the township is still accepting public comments, meaning the ordinance remains out for public review rather than heading toward a final vote.
Six Months of Back-and-Forth Over Junked Cars
Wednesday's hearing was the latest chapter in a process that stretches back to February, when supervisors first introduced the ordinance and defined a junked motor vehicle as any motorized vehicle kept outside an enclosed building for more than 15 days that lacks working order, a valid inspection sticker, or current registration, per the station's earlier reporting. Supervisors paused action in March after residents raised concerns about private property rights and how the rule would apply to commercial vehicles. Township officials have said the underlying goal is reducing environmental and safety hazards tied to abandoned or non-functioning vehicles.
The stakes for property owners are not trivial. Draft White Township municipal code records show that individual violations would carry daily monetary penalties and up to 90 days in the Indiana County Jail upon conviction, with each day a violation continues counted as a separate offense. That enforcement authority traces back to Pennsylvania's Second Class Township Code, which under Sections 1529 and 1533 gives township boards of supervisors the statutory power to prohibit public nuisances, order their removal, and bill non-compliant property owners for the cost, according to the Local Government Commission.
The vehicle ordinance is not an isolated effort. Before introducing it, supervisors had already authorized a $14,000 contract in February to clean up a blighted North 5th Street property under the township's dangerous structure ordinance, a project the station noted was not the township's first cleanup at that same address. Together, the moves suggest a broader municipal push to address blight beyond just cars sitting in yards.
A $647,009 Fix for a Dangerous Intersection
On the infrastructure side of Wednesday's agenda, supervisors approved a $647,009 bid from Traffic Control and Engineering of Bentleyville for the Wayne Avenue and Indian Springs Road traffic signal replacement project. The township received two offers for the work after a prior bidding period drew no bids at all, Anderson said, adding that officials had modified the project timeline specifically to attract companies to bid.
Public bidding specifications released in June show the scope of the project goes well beyond a simple signal swap. It includes ADA curb ramps, new crosswalks, pedestrian signal equipment, an LED blank-out sign, emergency vehicle preemption, and a radar detection system, according to bid documents obtained through Townnews. Contractors were required to submit sealed proposals by July 16. The project is funded in part through a grant administered by the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation's Office of Multimodal Transportation, per records reviewed by HigherGov.
The upgrade fits into a much larger regional effort. PennDOT District 10 is separately executing a $4.3 million intersection improvement project along Indian Springs Road, or Route 422, between Wayne Avenue and Route 286, with construction expected to wrap up this fall, according to the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation. That state project adds left-turn lanes, roadway widening, and drainage infrastructure to the corridor.
Why Wayne Avenue Needed Fixing
The pedestrian safety improvements did not come out of nowhere. A multimodal transportation study funded by PennDOT and conducted jointly with Indiana County and Indiana University of Pennsylvania flagged serious hazards along Wayne Avenue, noting that pedestrians crossing four lanes of traffic with a 45 mph speed limit face significant risk near the Hoodlebug Trail crossing, according to findings published on ArcGIS StoryMaps.
The broader Route 422 corridor has seen tragedy in recent months. In April, a 78-year-old Homer City woman was killed when her car left Indian Springs Road and struck a tree, a crash state police investigated near the same improvement zones now slated for construction. Just weeks ago, a motorcyclist was thrown and airlifted after a deer strike elsewhere on Route 422 in Indiana County, underscoring the corridor's ongoing safety concerns.
For now, the junk vehicle ordinance remains unresolved, with township staff continuing to collect public input before any final vote. The traffic signal contract, by contrast, is a done deal moving toward construction as part of a coordinated push to make one of White Township's busiest and most dangerous intersections safer for drivers and pedestrians alike.
-4.webp?w=160&h=400&fit=crop&crop=edges)
