PennDOT to fix Lower Bucks' frustrating double intersection near Oxford Valley Mall

It's Lower Bucks County's most confusing and frustrating crossroads which for decades has produced a steady flow of fender benders and crashes on the border of Falls and Middletown.

It's the intersection of Bristol-Oxford Valley Road and Lincoln Highway, with the similarly named North Oxford Valley Road supporting motoring confusion. PennDOT says help is on the way.

What's PennDOT planning for Lower Bucks' wackiest double-trouble intersection?

The state Department of Transportation has been promising a fix for the double-intersection nightmare for years.

On Tuesday Dec. 19 at 7 p.m. , PennDOT will unveil its plans to "reconstruct and improve" the roads at an online public meeting. The public is invited to attend and partake in a written Q&A after officials discuss what they intend to do with its $11.38 million fix.

You can join by clicking this Microsoft Live Teams meeting link.

Internet access and a computer or mobile device are required to view the virtual meeting.

Anyone with special needs or requiring special aid is requested to contact PennDOT Project Manager Josefina Brown at 610-205-6971; or Design Project Manager Brian Rasiul at 610-422-2378.

What is the plan to fix Lincoln Highway and Bristol Oxford Valley Road?

The plans are still being worked out and the PennDOT presentation is under wraps until the Dec. 19 meeting.

However, we do know an earlier plan called for a traffic light and state-of-the-art traffic detection sensors that will adjust traffic light timing, depending on volume.

These would replace the current stop signs.

At Oxford Valley Road and Lincoln Highway, where the Middletown 'M' monument sits, the improvement plan in 2022 called for "widening of both roadways for dual left-turn lanes at all four approaches to the intersection and for a northbound right-turn lane."

But last year, officials cautioned the plan was subject to change.

Improvements will cut down on the frustrating backups and wait time to get from North Oxford Valley Road to Bristol Oxford Valley Road and then make it through to US 1 (Lincoln Highway), officials have said.

Also, the renovated intersections will have curb cuts and sidewalks to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).

Will the Middletown M monument remain?

There has been no discussion or public plan that revealed PennDOT or the townhip would remove the advertising monument that changes colors and flashes ads on large electronic billboards as some 23,00o vehilces as day drive by.

More: Hate the Middletown Monument? Artists, architects explain why there's no love

How long has PennDOT been working on a fix?

Since at least the late 1980s. PennDOT officials have presented plans and promises to both Middletown and Falls, but when funding time came, other road work priorities bumped the project. Hopefully this is the real deal.

Why now?

PennDOT has set the improvements at the intersections that cross Falls and Middletown townships because North Oxford Valley Road and Bristol Oxford Valley Road "have higher than statewide average crash results" based on a state report covering 2013-17. And ramps required by the American with Disabilities Act (ADA) are either missing or not in compliance with PennDOT standards.

When officials spoke of the signalized intersection plan in 2022, they said work culd be completed by 2026.

From 2022 'Nightmare' intersections at Lincoln Highway and Oxford Valley Road in Middletown to get $11.3M fix

JD Mullane can be reached at 215-949-5745 or at jmullane at couriertimes.com.

This article originally appeared on Bucks County Courier Times: PennDOT plans Dec. 19 meeting on US1/Oxford Valley intersection