Two short stories today. Yesterday a truck hit WSSD bus 1. Many parents got calls that their children were absent from school (which caused panic) before the SHMS principal sent out an email explaining what happened. The Nether Providence Police are looking for assistance.

Hit and Run. At 0734hrs, officers were dispatched to the area of Providence Rd and Meadow La for an accident with no reported injuries involving a Wallingford Swarthmore School District bus with students on board. Upon arrival, officers learned that it was a hit and run.

The striking vehicle is described as an orange in color “tree trimmer type truck”. It possibly is an old or retired ASPLUNDH type truck with an unknown white company sign on the doors. The striking vehicle was last seen heading south on Providence Rd. Damage should be on the left side of the striking truck, possibly the bed enclosure.

There were no injuries to any students on the bus.

If you have any information on this accident please contact Traffic Safety Officer Kevin Smith at 610-892-2875.

I passed through the area before the police arrived and the damage seemed minor, but SHMS had the nurse check the students out of an abundance of caution.

The DelCo Times is reporting an update on PECO cutting down trees in Swarthmore which bodes ill for the fate of Nether Providence’s trees. Instead of curtailing the project, PECO has expanded its scope further, planning to take down more trees and trim even more beyond that. From Swarthmore’s press release,

During PECO’s initial conversations with the Borough and listening to the concerns of the
community in 2021, PECO pledged to revisit the project and meet with the Borough prior to
moving forward. In 2021, PECO proposed to remove ninety-five (95) trees within the Borough
as well as increase the utility pole height from a 35’/40’ to a 45’/50’ pole. The project also
proposed to upgrade distribution lines from 4k volt distribution to 13k volt distribution.

During the October 24, 2022 meeting, the Borough learned that the pole height would be 45’/50’
and they would need to remove one hundred and twenty-four (124) trees in order to accomplish
the energy upgrade, as well as the need to trim many other trees. PECO asserted that the upgrade
was necessary to reduce outages, that the existing 4k distribution lines reduce the ability for
residents to install electric vehicle charging stations and reduce the ability to install solar unless
the lines are increased to 13k volts.