Daily Local News (West Chester, PA)
BACK ON TRACK
After delay, construction projects set to resume in borough
DOWNINGTOWN » In the heart of Chester County, D’Town is typically home to lots of visitors from outside the borough.
During the ongoing wake of an ‘unprecedented’ national crisis and coupled with Gov. Tom Wolf’s state-mandated stay-at-home order which he recently extended through June 4 for all five counties of the Philadelphia region, historic Downingtown is quieter these days. People are staying home.
Fortunate individuals can work from home. Many businesses, from greenhouses to real estate agencies, remain closed in southeastern Pennsylvania. Wolf first enacted an emergency order to suspend all intrastate ‘non-essential’ commerce in March.
Overall, traffic is historically light.
However, people are still moving, rather to exercise or see a friend, and, boroughwide construction projects are still advancing. Although Wolf allowed statewide construction projects to resume beginning May 1, prior to that several developers working on major construction projects in the borough successfully received waivers to continue their operations.
“Allen Myers’ company is at work on the longanticipated Chestnut Street Bridge replacement,” said Mayor Phil Dague on Wednesday. “Work was stopped briefly at the beginning of the shutdown, but a waiver was granted and work is in full vigor now. It is expected to be completed in October 2021.”
Elsewhere, the mayor said work is progressing on the site preparation for Brandywine Station, a project being built by the Hankin Group.
“Groundbreaking is expected to take place this
summer, and the project will take several years to complete,” Dague said.
Another ongoing construction project is the East Village by Southdown Homes on Woodbine Avenue, the mayor said, which will feature single-family homes, multi-family units and townhouses.
Dague said work continues to finish construction. Some of the new East Village houses are already occupied.
And just north on Woodbine, the construction of an apartment complex is underway, called the Woodbine Avenue Apartments, according to the mayor.
On a bright note, the business community of Downingtown is weathering the ongoing national crisis. “As of today, I am currently unaware of any businesses closing their doors permanently in the borough, and I fervently hope that that holds true,” Dague said.
Downingtown Borough Manager Stephen Sullins concurred.
“I would agree with the mayor that we have not heard of any businesses closing right now, but we know they are struggling,” Sullins said May 13. “The standard answer most businesses are giving us right now is: ‘We are hanging in there, waiting for all of this to be over.’”
The borough manager said there are two additional construction projects on the transportation side of things underway in Downingtown right now, referring to the Lancaster Avenue Bridge rehabilitation and the Woodbine Trail Grant projects.
“The Lancaster Avenue Bridge over the Brandywine will be getting a facelift soon and is currently in design,” Sullins said. “Survey crews have been out working on the layout and right-of-way issues.”
As for a bit of nature, Sullins said a bid was just awarded for the Woodbine Road Trail Grant. The contractor will install sidewalks along Lancaster Avenue and Woodbine Road in an area of fresh development. Road widening will also take place around the Woodbine Road and Lancaster Avenue intersection.
Sullins said that the Downingtown STEM Academy construction project continues to progress daily. New decorative street light bases were recently installed down Manor Avenue, he said, and new lights shall be added soon.