$274M plan gets preliminary approval

The Reading Area Transportation Study group granted preliminary approval of a $274.8 million four-year transportation improvement plan in Berks County.

The plan includes $202.1 million for 107 highway and bridge projects, including improvements to Routes 222 and 422.

It also includes $62.7 million for 21 BARTA transportation projects.

The plan also includes $117.5 million for upgrades along Interstate 78 and the interchange in Tilden Township and Hamburg.

The plan is available to review through July 6.

The RATS group is required to submit a final plan to PennDOT at the end of July.

The plan will be reviewed by the Federal Highway Administration and take effect Oct. 1.

Michael Golembiewski, transportation planner, said Wednesday, June 3, that the Berks planners cannot speculate if the coronavirus pan

demic will result in revenue losses for transportation.

The bulk of the funding for transportation comes from state and federal gasoline taxes.

“With lower driving nationwide during the pandemic and the associated lower fuel consumption rates, gas taxes have temporarily declined,” Golembiewski said.

Alan D. Piper, county transportation planner, said the plan addresses the needs of the county and complies with the state and the federal policy guidelines.

Piper notified the RATS group last summer of the state’s new plan to focus on interstate highways, resulting in a $68 million reduction in funding for Berks highways during the next four fiscal years.

As a result, the transportation plans were scaled back and stretched out over a longer time frame.

The projects most impacted by PennDOT’s reallocation to the transportation plan are the Route 422 West Shore Bypass and Route 222 projects.

In September, a $27 million project on Route 222 in Maidencreek Township began.

The project includes widening the intersection at Route 73 and constructing roundabouts at the intersection of Genesis Drive and Schaeffer Road. The expected completion is in 2022.

The four-year plan includes construction of a roundabout on Long Lane in Maxatawny Township.

The plan also includes widening Route 222 to the Kutztown interchange.

The Route 422 West Shore Bypass project has been put on the back burner.

The preliminary engineering for the first phase of the 422 project is in progress, and bid openings are scheduled in 2026, with completion projected in 2030.

Preventive maintenance projects include upgrades to bridges over the Schuylkill River and Brentwood Drive.

The project calls for replacing a bridge at the intersection with I-176 and reconfiguring the westbound ramp of I-176 in Cumru Township. It also includes widening a bridge over the Schuylkill River and Norfolk

Southern railroad.

The plan calls for expanding the highway to six lanes from the Penn Avenue interchange to the Lancaster Avenue business interchange, including upgrades to the Bingaman Street Bridge and providing pedestrian and bicycles lanes.

These projects are also included:

• A$5 million project to resurface the Warren Street Bypass from the Route 422 ramps in Wyomissing to Route 183. Construction is expected to begin in 2021.

• A $4.3 million project to replace a bridge on Friedensburg Road over the Antietam Creek in Lower Alsace Township.

• A $6.9 million project to replace and/or rehabilitate a bridge that carries Norfolk Southern Railroad

over Centre Avenue in Reading.

• A $1.1 million project to replace and/or rehabilitate a bridge on Tollgate Road over Leak Creek in Amity Township.

• A $1.7 million project to resurface Chestnut Street from Fourth Street to Bingaman Street in Reading.

• A $2 million project to replace the Peach Street Bridge on East Normal Avenue over Sacony Creek in Kutztown.

• A $2.2 million rehabilitation of Gibraltar Road Bridge over Antietam Creek in Exeter Township.

• A $13.4 million project to add an auxiliary lane along Route 222 southbound between Papermill Road and the Routes 222 and 422 interchanges in Wyomissing.

• A $4.7 million project to resurface Route 222 from Route 61 to Fifth Street Highway in Muhlenberg and Ontelaunee townships.

• A $7.4 million project to rehabilitate or replace bridges on Old Route 22 in Bethel and Upper Tulpehocken townships.

• A $1.6 million project to replace Glendale Bridge that carries Winding Road over Ironstone Creek in Douglass Township.

• A $4.2 million project to improve Route 12 from Antietam Road to Mount Laurel Avenue in Alsace Township.

• A $7.7 million project to restore Route 222 from Reading Boulevard to State Hill Road, including Penn Avenue ramps in Spring Township and Wyomissing.

The committee is expected to adopt the plan at its next meeting in July.