Route 611 Traffic Light Planned Around Former Navy Base In Horsham

HORSHAM TOWNSHIP, PA —The old Grandma’s Grotto property on Route 611 may get its traffic light sometime in the fall.

Transportation improvements around the former Willow Grove Naval Air Station are working through the approvals process, said former state Rep. Todd Stephens, who chairs the MIRIA board that deals with the Navy base.

Stephens said that he hopes an infrastructure project for safety improvements at West Moreland Avenue and Easton Road (Route 611) will go out to bid sometime this spring.

The old Grandma’s Grotto property was acquired in June 2021, utilities were decommissioned, and the building was demolished in January 2022.

"Not much activity has been evident at the site since we raised the building but are assured our work and efforts progress," Stephens said.

While the property was acquired as part of a plan to situate a traffic light at the intersection, the scope of the project grew as realigning the intersection was contemplated, he said.

Stephens said the project may also undertake extending sewer service up West Moreland Avenue.

An application for the project was finalized and submitted to PennDOT in late November 2022, and the Navy has approved and is finalizing an easement on Navy property to situate traffic light equipment.

Tinius Olsen, a company that operates on the former Navy base, would also have access to its property at the fourth leg of the intersection, Stephens said.

"I'm looking forward to these important safety improvements," Stephens said.

Stephens said he hopes that construction would start in the fall.