Members of the Saxonburg Borough Council devoted time during their meeting last week to the issue of making travel in the municipality safer.

It was decided to send a letter to the state Department of Transportation asking for help in improving lines of sight at two locations. One is the intersection of Butler and Main streets and the other is the intersection of South Rebecca Street, Horne Avenue and Alwine Street.

Main, Butler and Rebecca streets are state roadways.

The council is right in delving into the safety issue early in the construction season. Perhaps PennDOT can provide some temporary options, even if it is too late to plan for more extensive, permanent work for this construction season.

With the opening of the new Benbrook Medical Center in Butler Township, PennDOT also should take a close look at making significant improvements to dangerous Benbrook Road, which connects Route 8 in Center Township with Route 68 in Butler Township, passing by the Benbrook Medical Center along the way.

While Benbrook Road already is a major shortcut for many motorists — many of whom travel the antiquated roadway much too fast for conditions — it is reasonable to conclude that traffic will increase as a result of the medical center's presence.

And, the medical center could provide the incentive for other medical facilities to open up in that area, exacerbating the dangerous travel situation.

It is the Center Township portion of Benbrook that is most in need of modernization. The road is curvy, badly banked in some areas and consists of very narrow berms — three elements of highway tragedy.

It's true that there are several other alternative routes for Route 8 motorists to get to the medical center. However, it is understandable for motorists to want to use the shortest, most-direct route, which is Benbrook for many people.

Actually, Benbrook should have been a candidate for major reconstruction long before the medical center ever was envisioned. The minor berm work that has been done on the roadway recently does not begin to address the roadway's serious needs.

The Saxonburg Borough Council is taking an activist stance in regard to its town's dangerous roadway conditions.

Although it is not in charge of Benbrook maintenance, Center Township should become visibly active in lobbying PennDOT for the start of a process that eventually will bring Benbrook up to modern stand-ards and recognize the development that is taking place.

It will be a time-consuming and costly venture to achieve the Benbrook Road goal, but the fix never will happen unless official study for such a project gets under way.

That is what is being requested in terms of Saxonburg's streets. That is what needs to be done regarding Benbrook.