Route 380 crashes in Murrysville: 'You can't eliminate human error'

Jan. 13—Eleven crashes, eight injuries and one death in four years.

Those are the traffic statistics Murrysville police recorded going back to the start of 2019 for the section of Route 380 — barely a mile of roadway — between routes 286 and 366.

A number of factors come together to make this part of the road a frequent site for crashes, and, while PennDOT and private industry have proposed improvements in the coming years, there is one factor that is impossible to eliminate, said Murrysville police Capt. Tom Kusinsky.

"You can't take human error out of the equation," he said.

In addition to common traffic violations such as careless lane changes or drivers speeding down the eastbound side of Route 380, nearly all of the 11 crashes since 2019 share another common factor: the break in the center guardrail where drivers can turn in and out of Fairview Lane by the 380 Auction Discount Warehouse.

"The biggest problem with that hill is people having to cross traffic," Kusinsky said. "It's a high-speed roadway."

Weather does not seem to be a major factor. According to four years of crash reports provided by Murrysville police, eight of 11 crashes occurred during dry, clear weather conditions.

The hill's location brings together several traffic-related factors. The top of the hill is where the heavily traveled Route 380 intersects with Route 286, the main commercial corridor through Plum leading into Monroeville. A number of years ago, Kusinsky said, Route 286 opened into two lanes farther west, resulting in even more frequent crashes on the hill.

"Then PennDOT closed one of those lanes and made it easier for people to turn left onto 380," Kusinsky said. "But that also means it opens back up to two lanes prior to where you turn into 380 Auction. Even at the cloverleaf at the bottom of the hill, (drivers exiting Route 366) have to cross over traffic in order to get onto Route 380 and come up the hill."

Kusinsky said drivers leaving 380 Auction can't accurately judge the speed of vehicles coming down the hill — vehicles that have just come off a single-lane commercial corridor with multiple traffic lights and who now have their first access to a passing lane.

"If that person coming down the hill in the passing lane doesn't see you, whether you're turning out onto the highway or waiting to cross and go into 380 Auction, it's a disaster," he said. "You have human error, and you're mixing speed in a lot of the time. It's volatile."

State officials have taken notice.

PennDOT District 12 spokesperson Melissa Maczko said the agency recently received a funding allocation that will go toward painting a dedicated left-turn lane on the eastbound side of Route 380 at the guardrail break. It will include the reduction of eastbound Route 380 from two lanes to one approaching the new dedicated turn lane, along with signage warning drivers.

"This will give left-turning drivers a refuge to wait to make their turn," Maczko said.

The project is being designed, and Maczko said PennDOT hopes to put the project out to bid in the summer.

In addition, as part of a proposal to bring a second unconventional drilling operation to Murrysville, driller Olympus Energy wants to fund the installation of a traffic signal at the top of the hill, where routes 286 and 380 meet, although technically they do not cross one another. Route 380 turns west and continues through Plum toward Penn Hills, while Route 286 breaks east through Murrysville toward Saltsburg.

Murrysville Chief Administrator Michael Nestico said, if Olympus' proposal for its fracking well is approved, the traffic signal would be installed before the well's completion phase, around February 2024.

Because the traffic signal would be owned and maintained by Murrysville, the official request to install it must come from the municipality. Nestico said he is working with Olympus to coordinate that request.

Kusinsky said he is not sure a traffic light would lessen the frequency of crashes on the hill.

"The only thing that's going to stop accidents there is closing the gap where people turn," he said. "If you were forced to make a right leaving 380 Auction, go up and turn around, that would solve it. It would be an inconvenience to 380 Auction and to the motoring public, but there is already a lot of limited access along Route 380."

With potential improvements coming in the next couple of years, Kusinsky said it might be a good time for PennDOT officials to take a harder look at the overall layout of the hill, top to bottom.

"That cloverleaf with Route 366 could probably use some rethinking with having to cross over," he said. "Maybe this is the time to do it, if the dynamic of the highway is going to be changing a little bit. But you're never going to take human error out of it, so you have to try and eliminate the places where people can make that error."

Patrick Varine is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Patrick by email at pvarine@triblive.com or via Twitter .