ADAMS TWP — The township supervisors Monday night gave preliminary approval to a housing plan off Mars-Evans City Road after addressing concerns from residents about school bus access.

Woodland Trace is a proposed 46-unit planned residential development on 59.6 acres located behind older homes on Spring Drive, Woodford Drive and Lynwood Drive. The developers of the property are T.D. Kelly Co. and Barrington Homes.

There are already about 12 houses on those three roads which were built in the 1960s, said Gary Peaco, township code enforcement officer.

The developer has agreed to make improvements to the roads in hopes of allowing school buses and emergency vehicles to safely access the development. Any children living on those roads now must get picked up by the bus at the intersection of Spring Drive and Mars-Evans City Road.

The improvements would include widening Spring Drive at the intersection with Mars-Evans City Road, sealing cracks in the road and removing vegetation near that intersection to improve visibility, said Brenda Sebring, attorney for the developers.

The plans also call for a 6-foot wide asphalt walking trail, which would be open to the public, Sebring said.

John Riemer, a resident of Woodford Drive, said that if the property is developed and the bus stop remained at the intersection, it would present public safety and traffic issues.

Riemer said that he had talked to school district officials in the past who said that Spring Drive was too steep for buses.

“I was told they will not ever go up and down Spring Drive in a bus. I was told that over and over,” he said.

After hearing concerns raised by residents at a previous hearing, several of the supervisors recently visited the site and talked with representatives from the developer and Mars School District, supervisor Russell Ford said.

School Superintendent Wesley Shipley said that the only issue with buses accessing the property, was “dragging” when turning in from Mars-Evans City Road, Ford said.

The township will require that the improvements pass a test run by a school bus, he said.

“They are assuring us that the bus is going to be able to go up Spring Drive to be able to pick the kids up at the top. If that does not happen, they are going to have to make more modifications to the road to ensure that that does happen,” he said.

Representatives of the developer said they hope to break ground in the spring. The plan will need final development approval before the houses can be built, Peaco said.