Gateway improvement plans on tap
King Street entrance to Pottstown is in focus
Several independent projects may soon be coming together to improve the western gateway to the borough along King Street.
Perhaps the most colorful project is an art project that aims to put a “Welcome to Pottstown” sign on a concrete divider on the empty lot on the southeast corner of King and Manatawny streets on the east side of the bridge.
Marie Haigh told borough council Feb. 8 that the artists group to which she belongs has already received permission from the property owner.
The group also has plans to hang banners comprised of decorated cloth squares from the handrails of the King Street bridge over Manatawny Creek, as has been done during the last two Halloween seasons.
But they had better not make the banners permanent.
Justin Keller, the borough’s assistant borough manager, mentioned to council that PennDOT is already moving on plans to completely replace the King Street bridge over the Manatawny.
That will be the second Pottstown bridge over Manatawny Creek that PennDOT has replaced in the last several years.
The new High Street bridge over the Manatawny, just one block downstream, was opened in 2012.
Keller mentioned the new King Street bridge because he said the borough is hoping a grant application to Montgomery County for a pedestrian crossing of King Street at the entrance to Memorial Park and the A rendering of the “Welcome to Pottstown” sign being proposed for the intersection of King and Manatawny streets. Carousel at Pottstown will be approved.
The grant, if approved, would come through the Montco 2040 grant program, a funding stream created by the Montgomery County Commissioners to advance the goals of the county comprehensive plan.
The pedestrian crossing — necessary as the Colebrookdale Railroad, carousel, Manatawny Green mini-golf course and increasing number of events in Memorial Park generate ever more foot crossings — would be coordinated to be installed at the same time as the new King Street bridge, Keller told council.