DAILY LOCAL (Chester, Pennsylvania) 31 March 06 North Coventry migrating frog flap continues (Laura Catalano)
North Coventry: Think it’s easy trying to keep a couple of hundred migrating frogs and salamanders from getting run over every spring? It’s not.
Ask Elverson resident Nadine Bergeron, who’s been trying for four years to come up with a solution to prevent amphibians from being crushed by drivers along St. Peters Road.
Or ask North Coventry Police Chief Robert Schurr. He’s spent untold hours, even off-duty, trying to work out a solution.
And township supervisors have put plenty of time into it, too.
At a supervisors’ meeting Monday night, those three parties got into a sometimes heated discussion, complete with finger-pointing, about why a long-term solution -- or even a short-term one -- has never been realized.
After an hour debating the matter, the supervisors recommended that Bergeron contact the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation and get approval for a plan to stop traffic on St. Peters Road on warm, rainy, spring nights, when the frogs and salamanders are migrating.
She’ll have to work fast. The amphibians come out in droves to breed in a vernal pond on Wells Road. To get there, many of them walk blithely across St. Peters Road at night, when the temperatures hover around 50 degrees. They’ll be making that journey very soon.
Without the help of Bergeron and a group of volunteers she assembles, many of the creatures won’t make it across.
Schurr has made this much clear: Volunteers standing beside the road should not endanger themselves in order to save frogs.
"It absolutely, positively is a safety issue for motorists and volunteers," he told Bergeron.
Schurr also stressed the need to adhere to all state guidelines. That means, volunteers can’t stop traffic or post signs unless they have an approved plan by PennDOT to do so.
He cautioned the volunteers to stay on the shoulder of the road, out of the way of oncoming traffic, even if it means watching frogs get run over.
"Stand on the side of the roadway, and if you see frogs crossing, pick them up and carry them across the road safely, without impeding traffic," he advised.
That’s not so simple, as Bergeron and several other volunteers attending the meeting were quick to point out. It’s dark on St. Peters Road, and rainy or foggy when the frogs migrate. They cross an estimated 200-yard area, while traffic is moving swiftly.
The whole thing is complicated by the fact that the animals come out only about four nights, but it’s difficult to predict in advance exactly which nights.
Several short-term solutions were considered. One called for bringing in fire police to sit in cars with flashing lights that warn oncoming traffic. Without PennDOT approval, though, they could not stop traffic, only serve to slow it.
Supervisor Jim Marks didn’t like that solution -- too much liability for the township, he worried.
Bergeron would like a sign that warns drivers to stop or slow down. But without Penn-DOT approval, she can’t post one, Schurr said. Nor will the township lend her equipment, such as vests and signs because, again, liability becomes an issue when no approved plan is in place.
Her best bet, according to supervisors’ acting Chairman Bud Jenschke, is to try to quickly get PennDOT approval to stop traffic.
The issue has come up annually for four years. So why hasn’t any real solution been found?
Bergeron seems to think that the supervisors, the police department and PennDOT haven’t done enough to assist her. But Marks insisted that Bergeron is at fault for failing to work with all the parties to develop a plan.
He angrily accused her of taking inadequate responsibility and then pointing the finger at the township and police department when no plan is in place. In particular, Marks took exception to the fact that Bergeron has been critical of Schurr, who has expended time and money doing traffic counts and trying to set up a detour, which could not be approved.
"I’m tired of the disrespect you’re showing the police chief," Marks said.
Bergeron, for her part, insisted that she has been unsure how to proceed.
Schurr advised that she start working with PennDOT now to plan for next year.
"Every year, right before migration season, there’s a frantic effort to stop traffic," he said. "The ingredient that’s missing is timelines. It’s a lengthy process."
North Coventry migrating frog flap continues