WORTH TWP — Drivers will now need to ease off the gas while making their way through rural portions of one northern Butler County municipality.

Supervisors, during a meeting on Tuesday, Sept. 2, updated their speed limit ordinance, denoting a new maximum speed limit for a half dozen township roads.

The entire length of Mount Union, Countryview, West Liberty and Studebaker roads will now carry a speed limit of 40 mph. It marks the first time any of those rural roads have seen a speed restriction.

Under state law, the default limit for any unmarked rural road is 55 mph. However, the law also requires motorists to drive at safe enough speeds to meet the conditions. An inability to maintain safe speeds is what prompted supervisors to act.

“People are traveling way too fast on the back roads,” said board Chairman Fred Brezel. “There are plenty of sharp turns and hills throughout those roads. It was kind of reckless.”

Additionally, the speed limit on Currie Road was lowered to 40 mph and the limit on West Park Road, which is where the municipal building resides, was adjusted up to 45 mph from 40 mph.

Before making any changes, the township conducted a mandatory study through the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation’s Local Technical Assistance Program, which helps municipalities study and improve local road conditions and safety.

Heading into the winter months, supervisors said they hope the changes will increase safety while reducing any potential liability for accidents.

“Maybe it will help,” vice Chairman Gene Reeher said. “That’s the goal.”

With no police department, state police are in charge of overseeing the township and its 43 miles of road.

In other traffic-related business, supervisors said they are “looking into” working with the Love’s Travel Stop, located at 1011 New Castle Road, to make the business’s entrance safer after being alerted to some near-accidents in recent months.

Additionally, the Worth Township Fall Clean Up Day will be held on Saturday, Sept. 20, from 7 a.m. to 1 p.m.