Traffic Flow

GREENCASTLE, Pa. -- Greencastle will light up its 19th Annual Heritage Christmas celebration by illuminating the tree in Center Square Friday night at 7 p.m. The tree-lighting ceremony marks the start of Greencastle's Christmas celebration, which continues through Dec. 18. "We are excited," said Joel Fridgen, newly appointed executive director of the Greencastle-Antrim Chamber of Commerce. "It is a good program this year. " Included in the holiday festivities are the tree lighting, parade, Heritage Home Tour and Heritage Christmas weekends.

A Greencastle, Pa., woman was taken to Washington County Hospital after a single-vehicle accident at about 6:35 p.m. Friday on Interstate 81 just north of the Maryland state line, according to a press release from Pennsylvania State Police. The 23-year-old woman lost control of a 1998 Ford Explorer when she tried to pass traffic in the northbound lane near mile-marker 1 in Antrim Township, the release said. The vehicle struck a guardrail and rolled about 300 feet down the highway before coming to rest in the median, police said.

GREENCASTLE, Pa. -- The Greencastle Borough Council said its top goal for the next five years is to improve traffic flow throughout the borough. The Borough of Greencastle has been considering a bypass around town for more than a decade, but with recent construction on Baltimore Street proving it easy to create a two-mile traffic jam, the council has moved the item to the top of its list. The five-year strategic plan drafted by the council was the brainchild of Councilwoman Michele Emmett.

Work crews from Charles Brake Co. and Newville Construction Services will begin work to replace water and sewer mains in the intersection of Jonathan Street and North Avenue on Monday, weather permitting. This work will require drilling, blasting and excavation in the middle of the intersection, which will affect traffic flow on North Avenue, according to a release from the city. During the initial part of construction in the intersection, the contractor will attempt to use flaggers to keep at least one lane of traffic flowing on North Avenue, the release says.

WILLIAMSPORT -- A traffic signal will be installed at the northern exit of the Pilot Travel Center on Md. 63 near Williamsport, a project Washington County Commissioners President John F. Barr said he hopes will be completed by the end of the year. Ryan Myers, 23, the son of Del. LeRoy E. Myers Jr. of Clear Spring, died last week in a motorcycle crash near the truck stop when a tractor-trailer pulled out in front of him. "I have a mission now to make sure that things get done as quickly as possible so another one of these tragedies does not happen," LeRoy Myers said.

Dual Highway from Colonial Drive to Eastern Boulevard is again open to traffic after a downed high-voltage power line closed the roadway for about four hours, dispatchers said. Traffic lights were still out on that portion of the road as of midnight, causing traffic congestion, dispatchers said. A portion of Eastern Boulevard remained closed at midnight as crews continued work there, but work there was completed overnight, dispatchers said. The power line fell in the area of Eastern Boulevard south of Dual Highway, dispatchers said.

MARTINSBURG, W.Va. -- Two projects designed to improve traffic flow in and around one of Berkeley County's most heavily traveled intersections have received the green light from the West Virginia Division of Highways (DOH). Traffic signal upgrades at Apple Harvest Drive (W.Va. 45) and Winchester Avenue (U.S. 11) and four other intersections along the southern end of Martinsburg are part of a project to better coordinate the flow of vehicles to Interstate 81, acting area DOH engineer Kenneth L. Clohan said this week.

WAYNESBORO, Pa. - Northeast Avenue could be a one-way street within two or three months if the Waynesboro Borough Council considers the proposal on a timeline proposed by one of its members. Ronnie Martin, who now serves on the borough's street committee, asked for public input on the idea before a planned end-of-February decision by council. The councilman said he wants to eliminate turns onto East Main Street from Northeast Avenue, instead sending southbound traffic onto Roadside Avenue and through its traffic light.

WAYNESBORO, Pa. - Northeast Avenue could be a one-way street within two or three months if the Waynesboro Borough Council considers the proposal on a timeline proposed by one of its members. Ronnie Martin, who now serves on the borough's street committee, asked for public input on the idea before a planned end-of-February decision by council. The councilman said he wants to eliminate turns onto East Main Street from Northeast Avenue, instead sending southbound traffic onto Roadside Avenue and through its traffic light.

CHARLES TOWN, W.Va. - A Jefferson County official suggested Thursday that the county should explore the possibility of building a new road on the Blue Ridge Mountain that would help handle a potential wave of traffic from a disaster like a terrorist attack. If a terrorist attack or some other emergency occurred in one of the nearby metropolitan areas to the East, traffic coming over the mountain likely would be overwhelming, Jefferson County Commissioner Greg Corliss said. Not only would travel over the mountain be difficult, but people who live there would be hampered from traveling as well, Corliss said.