Highway

Quentin Rd.General Information

The Highway Department Maintenance Garage is located at 320 South 18th Street, Lebanon, PA, across from the North Cornwall Township Police Building. As part of the Public Works Department, the Highway Department Staff is responsible for the maintenance of Township roads, facilities, parks and recreation fields, and recycling collection services.

Township Infrastructure

There is a total of 48.50 miles of roadways within North Cornwall Township, which the Highway Department maintains 39.68 miles, including thirteen bridges. Throughout the year, some of the Department’s responsibilities on these roads are: Routine repairs such as potholes, sign installations, roadside mowing, bridge cleaning, culvert & drain cleaning, shoulder work, and equipment maintenance. The department also oversees subcontracted services, such as; paving, traffic line painting, and street sweeping.

Utilities & Street Lights

Water, Electric, Gas, Phone, and Cable Utilities are owned and maintained by those individual companies, with the exception of the sanitary sewer main line system, which is Township owned. The Township utilizes the City of Lebanon Authority, located on West Chestnut Street, as its wastewater treatment plant facility. Most of the Township’s street lights are owned by Met-Ed, but there are some street lights in developments, which are owned by the Township. Any street light outage or other problems can be reported to the Township’s Public Works Director. The Township will submit a work order to Met-Ed for light bulb or photocell replacement, which is Met-Ed’s responsibility to repair. When calling in a street light problem, please give the nearest address to the pole location and the type of problem (light out or goes on & off).

PennDot State Roads

The State owns 8.83 miles and four bridges and is responsible for the maintenance of all the following PennDot roads within the Township: Cumberland Street (RT. 422), Colebrook Road (Rt. 241), Cornwall Road, Mill Street (Rt. 422 to Cleona Blvd.), and Quentin Rd. (Rt. 72). If there is concern or problem on one of these State Roads, contact the local PennDot Garage at 272-6637.

Highway Department Employees

The full time employees are: Rich Royer, Highway Foreman, Roy Oxenreider, and Mike Gruber, Highway Workers. Please contact Justin Thompson with any questions, concerns, or problems regarding Township’s highway issues.

Township’s Recycling Drop-off Site

Constructed in the fall of 2008 and located next to the Township Administration Building, the Recycling Drop-Off Site allows residents to drop off brush and yard waste materials in the rear portion of the site (fee charged for this service). The front entrance, off of 18th Street, is for the FREE drop off of recyclable newspaper, corrugated cardboard, and mixed paper/phone books/magazines. The Highway Department is responsible for maintenance of the site and collection & disposal of the recyclable materials. (See Recycling department for more details and regulations.)

Highway Department Equipment

The highway employees make every attempt to keep equipment and themselves visible to the traveling public. Please keep everyone safe. If you see work in progress, keep in mind to pass safely. Respect and obey any direction you are given.

Please select one of the following for a seasonal listing of maintenance work and services:

Spring Season

Recycling: Woody & Green Waste Materials Collection

During the first full week of April, the Highway Department collects woody and green yard waste materials. Minimal amounts of leaves that may have gathered under bushes or in flower beds over the winter months may be placed commingled with your yard waste. REMEMBER: this spring collection is not intended for an entire fall season’s amount of leaves. All residents must utilize the fall leaf collection for the disposal of leaves. (See Recycling department for more details and regulations.)

Street Sweeping

Once a year, street sweeping is scheduled for the second and third full week of April. In addition, to satisfy Stormwater Management mandates, the Township conducts street sweeping throughout the Township from May through October. Please check your Township calendar for dates and areas affected. Some streets are posted with No Parking Signs. On those scheduled days, please move your vehicle off the street. We ask residents on non-posted side streets and in developments to keep cars parked off the street. Once your street is clean, you may return to your normal parking area.

Summer Season

Mowing Operations

During the summer months, the Highway Department mows Township owned facilities, island and court areas, and recreational fields and parks. Roadside flail mowing operations to control roadside vegetation along rural road shoulders is done throughout the summer. Please be aware of workers, and drive carefully around slow moving vehicles.

Road Paving Projects

Major paving projects on streets and rural roads are sub-contracted to independent contractors.
Please move your vehicles off the street when notified or posted. The contractors make every effort to allow residents in and out of their properties, but there are times when the road must be closed during the paving process. Do not drive on newly paved streets that are closed, until contractor removes all barricades, cones, and signs. During the summer season, please be aware of road resurfacing work in the area and drive carefully through paving construction work zones. The Township will distribute notices to residents in advance, if their street is scheduled for paving.

Line Painting Work

Highway center and edge line painting and intersection marking is a sub-contracted service provided by independent contractors. Line painting is a moving operation, so please be aware and do not drive on freshly painted lines. The Township and independent contractors are not responsible for paint damage to motorist’s vehicles that drive over painted lines. The Township staff does paint yellow curb sections every few years, on an as needed basis.

Fall Season

Recycling: Woody & Green Waste Materials Collection & Leaf Collection

Sometime in early October the Highway Department collects woody and green yard waste materials. The collection schedule can be found on the North Cornwall Township calendar located on the homepage of our website. Click on the calendar icon and scroll to the month of October.

Please do not place leaves in the woody & green yard waste piles, because the fall season leaf collection begins toward the end of October. (See Recycling for more details and regulations)

Every year, Fall Leaf Collection begins the last full week of October and extends through the first and sometimes second week of December. Depending on rain or equipment breakdowns, we may be a day late collecting your leaves. In the case of predicted rain for your scheduled day, we may work a day ahead, and then come back later to collect what was missed. The Leaf Collection season may end early with the first plowable snowfall. Please make sure your leaves are out for collection on or before your season ending scheduled day.

Winter Season

Winter Snow Removal

Snow plowing is a time consuming operation, and depending on the amount of inches and severity of a snowstorm, after the snow ends – With only four full time employees, it may take the road crew four to eight hours or more to plow the roads. The day after the storm the Highway Department, if needed, will come out with our front-end loader to clean up the courts, islands, cul-de-sacs, and other hard to plow areas where snow is still a hindrance.

  • The order of snow plowing streets is: Main roads, secondary roads, side streets, developments, and then alleys. Curb to curb plowing requires two or three passes per side on most streets.
  • Driveways or parking spaces which may have been cleared immediately after a storm and before the Township trucks get to that street, may be plowed shut later. It is not the Township’s responsibility to re-open driveways.
  • Mailboxes are on the right-of-way. If mailboxes are damaged from the snow, slush, or ice discharge from the plow chute – and not actually hit by the plow – it is the property owner’s responsibility to repair. Mailboxes and support posts should be structurally sound enough to handle any plowing conditions. Trees, shrubbery, or other objects on the Right-of-Way, that may be damaged from snow plow discharge, are not the responsibility of the Township to repair or replace.
  • Sometimes, on un-curbed streets and in developments, lawns may be damaged from plowing, if not marked properly. It is the property owner’s responsibility to mark with posts or reflective markers within one foot of the roadway. After a few inches of snow – it is almost impossible for the plow operators to tell where the road ends and the grass line begin. Along open sections or curves, where there is no visible objects (mailbox, poles, fence, etc.) markers should be placed. The Township will not repair lawns that were not marked.
  • Do not shovel or blow snow into the street. The crews work long hours clearing the roads, please follow these guidelines and be patient during snow removal operations.
  • Do not follow too closely or pass plow trucks. Be aware for trucks turning around or backing up during snow clearing of intersections.