June 3, 2025 - ChaddsFordLive.com

Truck traffic discussed in Kennett

Local News Kennett, Local News, Police Log

Kennett Square Borough Council took no action, but did hear a presentation regarding traffic, specifically truck traffic on State Street.

Leading into that presentation during the June 2 work session, Council President Bob Norris said, “About two months ago, the council wanted to re-engage the town on this topic. There’s a balance that we all have to recognize of the pros and cons that come with this topic. It might be nice and easy to say, hey, let’s stop trucks on the street, but that has a huge impact on the businesses that not only rely on those trucks showing up every day…So we’ve got to be very careful about the impact and the consequences.”

Borough engineer Mike Ellis said the state gives municipalities the right to enact truck traffic restrictions on local roads, and he gave some possible suggestions on how to do that in Kennett Square, especially on State and Cypress streets.

He said there are several ways to restrict to restrict truck traffic, such as capacity or geometry, but he focused primarily on geometry, the preferred method.

“The geometry is going to be your length, height, and width, and there’s no height issues…The length is typically the preferred way to regulate truck traffic because it’s the easiest for the police to enforce. So, it’s very easy for the police to measure the length of a truck to determine if it’s too long and it can’t make turns along the road.”

Restrictions by weight are more difficult because a scale is needed as well as a place to have the truck pull over.

Ellis said State and Cypress streets are fairly straight, and they have been measured. State Street is 36 feet wide with eight-foot-wide parking spaces on either side, leaving two 10-foot travel lanes, which, by PennDOT standards, could be a cause for truck restrictions. The same can be said of Cypress, he added, because those lanes are 11 feet wide.

“There does seem to be a case to restrict truck traffic, especially on State Street, and further analysis could be done on Cypress,” he said.

Ellis added that there have been several incidents of sideswipe accidents over the last several years, but that more study needs to be done to justify restrictions.

At the conclusion of Ellis’ presentation, Norris said the borough owns portions of the two streets in question, but there are other streets, such as Union — Route 82 — because it’s a state road, that also go through the borough and affect truck traffic. A road like that needs to be considered.

“There’s a process that has to be gone through as well. So it’s not the borough alone, and we certainly need PennDOT’s support,” Norris said.

Mayor Matt Fetick interjected, saying there was a planning group about 12 years ago that said “improving the intersection of Newark Road and Baltimore Pike was by far the key to dealing with traffic in the borough.”

The issue will come up again at a later meeting, though no date was specified.

About Rich Schwartzman

Rich Schwartzman has been reporting on events in the greater Chadds Ford area since September 2001 when he became the founding editor of The Chadds Ford Post. In April 2009 he became managing editor of ChaddsFordLive. He is also an award-winning photographer.

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Liberty Tree ceremony at battlefield park

Local News Chadds Ford, Local News

DSC_1361-GW-and-guard — The Liberty Tree near the Gilpin House at the Brandywine Battlefield park.

Politicians, Masons, Sons of Liberty, Daughters of the American Revolution, and history lovers gathered at Brandywine Battlefield Park for a ceremony in honor of the Liberty Tree.

America 250 PA organized the event as part of the run-up to the 250^th anniversary of independence. As part of the run-up, the group is in the process of planting 67 Liberty Trees in Pennsylvania, one in each county, according to Casandra Coleman, the executive director of America 250 PA.

The Liberty Project, she said, was made possible by the Masonic Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania, making Pennsylvania the first state to have all of its counties involved in the project. The significance of the masonic involvement is historically sound. George Washington and Benjamin Franklin were Masons. So was John Hancock. In all, at least eight of the signers of the Declaration of Independence were Masons, as were 28 signers of the Constitution.

Kathleen Goodier, vice chair of the Chadds Ford Township Board of Supervisors, addresses those attending the ceremony. She said, “We’re here today to honor those heroes, the ones who were the genesis of the nation that we are honored to live in today.”

The original Liberty Tree was an elm tree in Boston that became a symbol for independence from Great Britain. British loyalists cut it down in 1775, but other liberty trees were planted in other colonies. One was a tulip poplar planted in Maryland, and the one now at Brandywine Battlefield Park in Chadds Ford is a descendant of that tree, according to Troy Grubb, the site administrator at the park.

“The Liberty Tree has such symbolic meaning,” Grubb said before the ceremony. “It was a sign of resistance during the American Revolution. It fits here because this is where Americans fought and died for their liberty.”

Randell Spackmen, president of the Chadds Ford Historical Society and a commissioner with the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, spoke briefly before the ceremony on the significance of planting the tree at Brandywine.

“The PHMC feels wonderful that this site was picked to be one of the sites for one of the Liberty Trees. There’s such a value of history here at the Brandywine Battlefield Park. To be able to have one of these trees here for generations to come, for people in the public to see and witness part of our history growing here, really establishes our own roots,” he said.

One of the speakers during the ceremony was Chadds Ford Township Supervisors’ Vice Chairman Kathleen Goodier. She thanked the park for hosting the event and for nurturing the tree, the America 250 PA for promoting the event, and the Pennsylvania Masons.

Goodier quoted from the Masons’ website, saying, “Liberty Trees were gathering places for the Sons of Liberty throughout all 13 colonies. From their meetings and discussions, the seeds of the American Revolution were planted.”

Reenactor Anthony J. Caroll recites the Toast to the Flag.

She commented on the fact that the original tree, the elm in Massachusetts, was taken down by the Tories.

“Felling the tree did not weaken the fervor of those Sons of Liberty. This tree, the tulip poplar, is also a resilient tree that grows fast and strong, much like our nation. We’re here today to honor those heroes, the ones who were the genesis of the nation that we are honored to live in today.”

She concluded her remarks, saying she’s looking forward to the 250^th anniversary of our independence next year, and the 250^th anniversary of the Battle of Brandywine in 2027.

As part of the ceremony, reenactor Anthony J. Caroll recited the Toast to the Flag, written in 1917 by John J Daly. A copy of the poem may be found here.

The tree in the ceremony may be found along the drive path leading to the parking area near the Gilpin House at the park. It was planted a year ago, not during the ceremony on June 3.