Many of Tim Rote’s neighbors along the 2200 block of Greensburg Road in Upper Burrell have a “horror story” about what they say is a lack of safety on the road.

Bill Smith recalls getting rear-ended while pulling into his driveway about 15 years ago with his son in the vehicle. Their car was spun around in the front yard and almost hit the porch.

Jim Hickey sees cars racing each other and passing school buses that are stopped on the road.

And Rote looks no further than from his front porch to see skid marks and tractor-trailers whizzing by to see the issue.

“Imagine trying to pull out here every day,” he said. “It’s terrible.”

Neighbors along that stretch — about six residences and three businesses — are pleading with officials to do something to improve the roadway, which has a 55 mph speed limit.

The stretch of road is divided by a guardrail, so residents often have to perform U-turns to get to their homes.

Rote has lived at his home for more than 20 years but has seen an increase in traffic — particularly tractor trailers, sandboxes and tanker trucks — within the past couple of years. He and his neighbors attribute that to an increase in well pad construction in surrounding municipalities, and truck trips to Beaver Run Reservoir.

He also thinks truck detours due to construction on the New Kensington Bridge have contributed to an increase in traffic.

“The box trucks fly through here constantly,” he said. “It’s all night long.”

Rote said the solution is simple: reduce the speed limit to 45 mph. The road enters the 55 mph limit near the 1950 block of Greensburg Road in Plum.

He said a few neighbors attended a township supervisors meeting last fall to request lowering the speed limit and starting a study. Rote said that, at that time, officials told him adjusting the limit wasn’t feasible.

Ross Walker, Upper Burrell’s supervisors chairman, said that while the township is willing to help its constituents, the responsibility for Greensburg Road lies with the state because it is a state road.

“It’s really not up to the township,” Walker said. “We’ve asked them twice to do something down there in the past couple years, and they said no.”

Melissa Maczko, a spokeswoman for PennDOT, said Upper Burrell officials have reached out to PennDOT regarding the area “and we are reviewing their request.”

Walker is not sure why the speed limit in that area is 55 mph, but he said it has been that way “for a while.”

“It’s something the state has to look at. Until that study’s done, there’s nothing the township can do because it’s a state road.”

PennDOT traffic engineer David Parker said a 2015 traffic study determined the 55 mph limit was valid. Traffic studies look at road safety, volume and crash data, he said.

PennDOT data showed 14 reportable crashes in the area from 2019 to 2023: 1 in 2019, 3 in 2020, 4 in 2021, 1 in 2022 and 5 in 2023.

Municipalities must request a traffic study before PennDOT considers adjusting a speed limit or reconfiguring a traffic design, Parker said.

Hickey proposed an idea to reduce the stretch to one lane of traffic in each direction or have a divider to slow traffic. He said similar reconfigurations have been successful in Delmont.

Hickey, who has lived on Greensburg Road for about 30 years, said he often has drivers tailgating him, honking or yelling at him when he pulls into his driveway.

“It’s nasty out here,” Hickey said. “I understand it’s not residential, but people live here.”

Smith said speeding has been a long-standing issue.

“It’s always been like this,” he said. “They’ve always been flying through here at 70, 80 mph. They’ve clocked people at 90, 100.”

Smith and Rote said police using radar in areas that aren’t visible to motorists would help. Rote said a state trooper hid and used radar last week and was able to catch a few speeders. State police weren’t available to comment.

“By and large in transportation, it’s widely understood that just because we lower a speed limit doesn’t mean people go slower,” said Laina Aquiline, a PennDOT spokesperson. “It comes down to an enforcement issue.”

Terry Hessom, vice president of operations at HHH Equipment Resources, at 2330 Greensburg Road, thinks police presence and enforcement are most effective in making the road safer. He acknowledged that entering and exiting the business can be tricky because of the traffic and said officers have done a good job slowing drivers.

He said he’s not sure if lowering the speed limit to 45 mph would do the trick but it couldn’t hurt.

“I would have no problems at all bringing it down to 45,” he said. “It would make it easier on our end.”

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