Since 1989, motorists have been avoiding the Route 324 tunnel under the Enola Low-Grade Line in Martic Township by driving on a makeshift road that crosses over the abandoned rail line.

Tractor-trailers, large farm machines and firetrucks can't fit through the 12-foot-high underpass, and motorists driving cars that do fit aren't fond of the road's 90-degree turn at the north end of the tunnel.

For more than 20 years, they've been cutting across the gravel-and-dirt Enola line, just east of the tunnel, to avoid the underpass.

The crossover connects Route 324 and Red Hill Road.

When six southern Lancaster County municipalities took ownership of the Enola line in 2008, Martic improved the makeshift crossover.

The entrances to the crossover were cleared of trees and graded. Traffic control signs were installed. The road surface was covered with oil and chips.

Martic supervisors want to declare the shortcut a township road, even though state Department of Transportation officials will never accept it as such.

"We have allowed them to access our state road, but only on a temporary basis," said PennDOT spokesman Greg Penny. "The (township's) road doesn't meet our requirements, so I guess the question is: How long do we continue to allow them to access our road?"

On Monday, the county planning commission — acting against its own staff's recommendation — endorsed the township's proposal to declare the crossover a road.

"They are addressing their concerns, and, it seems to me, this gives them more of a say on what happens there," said commission member Dennis Groff.

But James Cowhey, the commission's executive director, warned that Martic's plans could make a difficult situation even more troublesome.

"The fact that it's now a township road could complicate an already complicated process," he said.

PennDOT and the Lancaster County Transportation Authority have been working for several years on a realignment of Route 324 that would bypass the underpass and the sharp curve.

The project even has $1.6 million in federal and state funds already dedicated to it.

Work on the reconfigured road, however, has not begun.

"It's been a challenge to come up with a design that is agreeable to everyone," said Dave Royer, the county's chief transportation planner.

Planning commission staff wrote to the board members that Martic Township's "proposed new road is in complete conflict with the Lancaster County Transportation Authority-led PennDOT project."

But Martic supervisor Frank Peiffer said PennDOT's inaction on the road realignment forced the township's hand.

The Pennsylvania Utility Commission in 1997 allowed ownership of the Enola line to be transferred to the six municipalities through which it runs — Bart, Conestoga, Eden, Martic, Providence and Sadsbury townships.

Because of a series of legal twists and battles, however, the Enola line wasn't turned over to the municipalities until 2008.

Plans call for the entire 23-mile line to become a public rail-trail.

As part of its ruling, the PUC stipulated that Martic Township would be required to tear down the bridge carrying the Enola line over Route 324 if PennDOT did not sign a contract to realign the road to bypass the bridge by Dec. 31, 2010.

That deadline has passed, and a contract does not yet exist.

"We're still working toward that goal," Royer said.

In the meantime, Peiffer said Martic supervisors are afraid the PUC will order them to tear down the bridge.

The township doesn't want to bear that expense, and they want the bridge to remain in place as part of the rail-trail.

"That's a historic structure, and it's critical for the trail," Peiffer said.

Martic supervisors are hopeful that declaring the makeshift bypass around the Route 324 tunnel a township road will demonstrate to the PUC that demolishing the underpass structure isn't necessary.

Peiffer said Martic Township has no plans to close the tunnel to traffic.

Only PennDOT can do that, he said, when the road realignment is finished.

"That's a state road," he said. "We can't do anything about it."

Rather than proceed with declaring the crossover a township road, Royer and Cowhey said they'd prefer Martic officials work with them and PennDOT on petitioning the PUC to extend the bridge-demolition deadline.

Royer said he hopes to meet with Martic supervisors soon to discuss the petition.

preilly@lnpnews.com