Residents get Route 322 update

$315 million targeted to ease traffic, but it will cost some people part of their property

UPPER CHICHESTER » Since its opening in 1954, the stretch of Route 322 that runs through Delaware County has been a vital piece of highway that connects Lake Erie in Cleveland, Ohio, to the casinos of Atlantic City, offering a lakes-to-sea commute that stretches clear across Pennsylvania.

Running 494 miles, the eastwest Route 322 remains one of the main thoroughfares through Delaware County, connecting Route 1 to I-95, ferrying commuters who travel from Chester County and west to the airport, Philadelphia

and shore locations.

And in spite of the creations of Interstates 95, I-76 and I-476 – completed in 1957, 1964 and 1992 respectively – East 322, known as the Conchester Highway through Delaware County, carries 40,000 vehicles a day between U.S. 1 Baltimore Pike and I-95 through Chadds Ford and Concordville. But, after decades of discussion, a project that will enable the highway to handle the overflowing volume of traffic is finally underway.

Thanks to funding from the Act 89 Transportation Plan, the commonwealth is investing more than $1.6 billion in infrastructure upgrades over the next 10 years. The Conchester Improvement Project will invest more than $315 million over the next five years.

For now, the old problems remain. Just two lanes wide, the dangers of bottlenecks and accidents has been a nightmare for commuters traveling what many call the “Killer Conchester” because of its penchant for fatal accidents, but for residents, the expansion will mean a potential loss of sections of their property that abut the highway, as well as environmental concerns and the need for updated sound barriers and drainage ditches.

The first phase, Section 101, which stretches from Baltimore Pike to Clayton Park Drive, is currently underway with an expected end date of late 2020. The project will construct two lanes heading east and west separated by a curbed grass median. At the Baltimore Pike intersection, turn lanes and upgraded signals will be added, as will upgrades to Evergreen Drive, Spring Valley Drive, Fellowship Drive, Station Road, Cambridge Drive, Merion Drive and at the intersection of Mattson Road and Featherbed Lane

With road design by Alfred Benesch & Company of Allentown, the full construction cost is set at $62,644,459. Shoulder closures can be seen in the stretch that runs along Clayton Park Golf Course in Concord.

Residents and commuters were invited to an informational session on Wednesday at the Upper Chichester Township Field House where they were able to meet with members of PennDOT, representatives from Benesch, state Rep. Steve Barrar, R-160, of Upper Chichester, and state Sen. Tom Killion, R-9 of Middletown.

It was a two-day discussion, and the hosts of the sessions were able to gather important informa-

tion from locals and commuters regarding how the changes will impact them.

“The amount of drivers who use the road is incredible, and for a lot of people, there’s no other solution,” Barrar said at Wednesday night’s gathering in Upper Chichester. “It’s great to see this finally happening. I learn a lot about everybody’s unique situation and how this will affect them.”

Residents in the Estates at Garnet Valley, west of Clayton Park Golf Course, have signed onto a petition to gain extended sound barriers along the route after a natural sound barrier of trees and earth was removed in construction. More than 50 residents of the community have complained about the change, with both Barrar and Concord Township signing off on the petition on behalf of residents who are concerned with the possibility of noise pollution affecting their homes.

Helen Malloy, 48, of Upper Chichester, said she can’t get out of her driveway near the intersection of Larkin Road and the Conchester Highway because of after- school and rush- hour traffic on weeknights.

“I’ve been hearing about this project since I was a kid. Hopefully it will help with traffic,” Malloy said.

Less than amile fromher home, Section 102 will remove the left turn for traffic to and from Colonial Drive and replace it with a massive expansion to the Chelsea Parkway that will have commuters merge off of Bethel Avenue onto Chichester Avenue and loop around behind the Walmart in Larkins Shopping Center to meet with the expanded intersection at 322.

Malloy said cars already are cutting through the parking lots of McDonald’s and Liberty Gas Station to avoid the long wait at the traffic lights, which engineers said Wednesday would be mitigated by less traffic volume and better signal timing.