The Public Works Department is responsible for highways, parks and open space areas, sewage collection system and pump stations.
Franconia Township has 48 miles of Township-maintained roadways and 26 miles of State highways maintained by PennDOT. The Department has numerous responsibilities, including taking care of potholes, all types of signage, signalization, street painting, storm drainage, ditch cleaning, shoulder mowing, crack sealing, surface treatments, skin patching, overlays, reconstruction and of course, snow removal.
Franconia is a bit more unusual than most highway departments because we still do all of our own work. We do a lot of storm drainage along existing roadways and continually work at improving our infrastructure on existing roadways.
When development comes into an area, we work at improving the surrounding areas in order to better handle the additional traffic. Our own crews do the reconstruction projects that usually involve storm drainage, curbing, excavation, rebuilding and if necessary, sidewalks.
Doing the work "in-house" gives us the opportunity to work more closely with the property owner so that everyone is happy with the finished product.
Preventative maintenance is a priority in Franconia Township. The most cost effective way of having a good, safe, pothole-free road to travel on is to keep water from penetrating the subbase of our highway system, so we do all we can to keep water off the roadways with storm drainage and wide shoulders with ditches. We also do a lot of crack sealing and chip sealing every year to keep the water from penetrating the road surface and causing premature failure and unnecessary potholes.
Managing snow and ice are a winter priority in Franconia Township. We were one of the first municipalities in Montgomery County to sign on with PennDOT and go under contract for snow removal on their roadways, having signed with them in 1972.
We felt that we could do a much better job of serving the public by taking care of all the roadways during a snowstorm in an efficient, organized manner, following a system that takes care of all roads in a practical sequence starting with the main thoroughfares, working into the lower volume through-roads and ending up in developments.
Snow and ice is a condition that affects each one of us at the same time. We can't be everywhere immediately, but we work very hard at keeping the roads passable through the storm. We ask that each one of our residents help us accomplish our tasks most efficiently by doing their part. Here’s how:
Be especially careful after a cold rain or in the late afternoon when we may have had some snow melt. Black Ice is deceiving and extremely treacherous. When the temperature falls, it happens everywhere at the same time and becomes extremely slippery immediately.
Thank you for your help in keeping our roads safe and travelable. We can all work together to have the cleanest roads in the community.
Paul Nice
Superintendent of Highways
Direct any concerns to either the Township office or to Paul Nice at the Highway Department. (215) 723-1153.