Daily Local News (West Chester, PA)
THE WHEEL DEAL
PennDOT completes bike lanes on 3 state highways, including one in Caln
CALN » Bicyclists are looking forward to a safer and more accessible way to travel through the area.
In its ongoing effort to enhance the bicycle experience across the state, the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) has completed new bicycle lanes on three suburban state highways in the Philadelphia region, PennDOT Secretary Leslie S. Richards announced on Friday during a press conference at the Thorndale commuter rail station.
“This initiative reflects our new PennDOT Connects program, which we’re using to reach out more to our communities and partners and considering many viewpoints right from the start of planning for transportation projects,” Richards said. “While maintaining the highway and bridge networks is a crucial part of our mission, it is not the only part. We want to consider and enhance the other modes, be it commuter rail, served by this station here, other forms of public transit and those who chose to bicycle or walk.”
The bicycle lane is two miles along Business U.S. 30 (Lincoln Highway) between Diamond Street at the City of Coatesville/Caln Township line and Hazelwood Road at SEPTA’s Thorndale Train Station in Caln. The new bicycle lanes
tie into the existing bicycle lanes that have been in place on Business U.S. 30 starting at the Diamond Street intersection and proceeding west to Second Avenue in Coatesville.
PennDOT replaced traffic lines and painted new bicycle lanes and legends on Business U.S. 30 and Route 320 in October and the bicycle-lane work was recently completed. The estimated cost for installing bicycle lanes on the three state highways is $127,000.
Richards noted the pilot program will help determine long-term maintenance costs for the bicycle facilities and the Wolf Administration’s PennDOT Connects initiative helps by reaching out to communities and partners earlier in project planning.
Leonard Bonarek, regional planner for the Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia, said the installation of the bike lanes in Thorndale resulted about 12 years after efforts by the Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia working with officials. He hopes that this bike lane will “pave the way” for additional bike lanes on state roads throughout the Philadelphia suburbs.
“PennDOT represents all PA. travelers and all PA. road users, not just those who are in cars, but regardless of whatever your mode of transportation is,” Bonarek said. “Throughout the region, this represents a paradigm shift in the Pa. suburbs, a time when, as a suburban resident that you don’t have to take it for granted that the only way to get around is a car.”
State Rep. Thomas Quigley, R-146, echoed Bonarek that the bike lanes on state roads provide a safer way for the bicyclists to travel. He also described it as a “great partnership” between local and state governments along with PennDOT, to make the area more accessible like officials did in Pottstown.
“Pottstown, like many of our small towns and boroughs, is trying to revitalize itself, trying to make itself a destination, both for the citizens who live there and also to bring people into town,” Quigley said.
The bike lane is about a third of a mile along Route 663 (King Street) between Route 100 and Manatawny Street in Pottstown in Montgomery County. The third bike lane location is in Delaware County with about 2.2 miles along Route 320 (Sproul Road/Chester Road) between Route 420 (Woodland Avenue) in Springfield Township and College Avenue in Swarthmore Borough.
The three state roads were chosen for the pilot program by the Southeast Pennsylvania Suburban Bike Lanes Working Group, which consists of the Bicycle Coalition of Philadelphia, PennDOT, the Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission and the suburban county planning commissions.
As part of a series of improvements for bicyclists, PennDOT earlier this year issued a policy change removing the Bicycle Occupancy Permit. Now local governments only need to provide a letter of request for the proposed bicycle lane that includes details for PennDOT to evaluate the request. This replaces the previous requirement for a formal agreement between PennDOT and the municipality.