A vehicle waits on Branchton Road while traffic travels Route 8 in Slippery Rock Township in July. PennDOT has informed township supervisors that a traffic study of the intersection does not warrant a need for speed limitations. Butler Eagle File Photo

SLIPPERY ROCK TWP — A stretch of Route 8 that intersects with Branchton Road will not become a reduced-speed zone.

The township’s board of supervisors received a letter from the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation stating a traffic study conducted starting in October did not show a need for a speed-limit reduction.

There is a flashing light near the intersection to regulate traffic, painted lines that highlight the smaller lanes and flashing stop signs along Branchton Road. A sign in the northbound lane warns drivers of the upcoming intersection, setting a speed limit of 35 miles per hour.

“PennDOT still has mitigation out there,” Paul Dickey, supervisor chairman, said at a meeting Monday. “As far as I am concerned, I think we’re not going to pursue anything else.

“They’re doing mitigations out there, and we’ll see how it works.”

The intersection was the site of a fatal crash between a motorcycle and a passenger vehicle in September. The motorcyclist and his passenger died as a result of the crash.

That same month, another motorcycle rider was hospitalized following a crash at the intersection.

The crashes were the latest in a series of lethal and serious crashes at the intersection.

According to previous reports, the flashing light was installed shortly after a 2003 crash in which a North Carolina family of five was killed when a truck driver ignored a stop sign and collided with the family’s vehicle.

Following the accident, supervisors had several meetings into 2004 regarding the intersection, with many residents in attendance. Out of concern for the community’s safety, 660 residents signed a petition for a traffic light to be installed.

The supervisors asked for the traffic study in October, following requests from multiple sources.

The letter sent to the supervisors by PennDOT stated the department can conduct another study if conditions change.

“We will inform the Pennsylvania state police of speeding that is in the area,” Dickey said, reading from the letter.