Could Route 22 become an interstate?
Could Route 22 become an interstate?
The question came up during Wednesday’s Lehigh Valley Transportation Study meeting amid discussions to upgrade Interstate 78 and delay plans to widen Route 22. While it raised my eyebrows, it’s not a crazy concept.
Michael Rebert, executive director of PennDOT District 5, and Becky Bradley, executive director of the Lehigh Valley Planning Commission, said they were exploring the idea. Neither had a lot of information to share, but the fact that they’re kicking the tires at all suggests there’s some merit to this.
In the meantime, here’s what it would mean to Lehigh Valley motorists.
Q: Why would we want to make Route 22 an interstate?
A: The feds are shifting funding away from state and local highways and requiring more attention be paid to the interstate system. Pennsylvania hasn’t been great about keeping up with its interstate maintenance and will have to ramp up its spending over the next few years. That’s why there’s no money to widen Route 22 — the region’s busiest highway — but hundreds of millions to add truck-climbing lanes and an interchange to I- 78.
But if Route 22 were an interstate? Well, that could open up some funding possibilities.
Q: Brilliant! Let’s stick some interstate signs up and be done with it!
A: That’s not in the form of a question.
Q: Who are you, Alex Trebek?
A: I don’t care for your sass, imaginary reader, especially because making Route 22 an interstate isn’t quite that easy.
Even if there’s local buy-in, higher-ups at PennDOT would have to lobby the Federal Highway Administration to make the change. I suspect federal leaders aren’t interested in adding 30 miles to the interstate system when Pennsylvania has billions of dollars of infrastructure improvements to catch up on. Moving this forward is going to take an awful lot of persuasion.
Q: Why are you being so negative? Just let us dream of easy commutes on our shiny new interstate.
A: One thing going in Route 22’s favor is that the interstates were envisioned as the primary highways in their areas, but that’s not how our local transportation grid operates. Route 22 carries the most traffic, followed by Route 33 and then I78. From that perspective, you could argue Route 22 should be the interstate.
But even if the feds are on board, the design of Route 22 is a potential problem. Interstates have to meet specific design standards, and Route 22 isn’t quite there. Yes, it’s an expressway with no traffic lights, intersections or railroad crossings. It’s also a four-lane highway with limited access, two other interstate requirements. And while nobody follows the 55 mph speed limit, the speed postings are high enough to qualify for an interstate.
Route 22 falls short, however, when it comes to wide medians and shoulders on both sides of the highway. PennDOT spokesman Ron Young pointed out some overpasses and bridges don’t meet interstate standards, either. Some older roads, like the Pennsylvania Turnpike, had these flaws grandfathered in when the government converted them into interstates. It’s not an impossible barrier to overcome, but it could still be a hurdle.
Q: Blah blah blah. What would we call our glorious new interstate?
A: You couldn’t just stick an I in front of 22 and call it a day. For starters, there already is an Interstate 22 connecting Memphis, Tennessee, to Birmingham, Alabama. Also, the name would need to fit into the interstate numbering system. North-south routes are odd numbers and east-west routes are even numbers. The low numbers for east-west interstates start in the south while the low numbers for north-south routes begin in the west. That’s why the major north-south corridor on the East Coast is I-95.
In this case, a local highway would likely become a threedigit interstate, which are spur routes, beltways and bypasses. The question is, which highway gets that name?
Route 22 isn’t a bypass — it goes through all three cities. But I-78 does loop around them, so it technically could be the bypass if you designated Route 22 the main interstate. This seems really unlikely, since it would confuse the heck out of everyone, but crazier things have happened.
Either way, if one of the highways is I-78, what do you call the other one? Bypasses typically begin with an even number. Interstates 278, 478 and 678 all serve the New York City area. Technically, Interstate 878 exists, too — it makes up less than a mile of highway in Queens, but it’s so small they never bother posting signs labeling it an interstate. Maybe they’d make I-878 available? Just don’t hold your breath.
This letter took a circuitous route before landing on my desk. As a result, I got an assist from David M. Goldman, an editor who helps put The Morning Call’s Opinion section together. David has about 30 years more experience as a journalist than I do and has been a friend of mine for about a decade, so it gives me great pleasure to introduce him as a Junior Road Warrior. I now need to design a cheaply made badge for this title.
Our Junior Road Warrior hadn’t noticed the lights were out, but it’s been bugging me for years. To be honest, driving around Pennsylvania at night generally bugs me. Except for the few spots directly under street lights, the only lights you see are from oncoming traffic. I find many headlights are overwhelmingly bright, especially if there aren’t streetlights overhead. Perhaps it’s just a sign I’m getting old.
Regardless of my eyesight, Route 378 is a bit of an unusual situation. Michael Alkhal, Bethlehem’s director of public works, said the spur route is owned by PennDOT but was created in the mid-1960s with input from the city and Bethlehem Steel. Normally, there wouldn’t be much illumination lighting for the highway away from the ramps, but the city and Steel wanted extra lighting. To close the deal, the city agreed to split the costs for the extra lights with PennDOT.
A few decades later, the infrastructure for all those extra lights is failing. Because of the design choices made at their installation, fixing the lights will be particularly expensive — more than $3 million to replace about 300 metal poles and their underground wiring, according to Alkhal and PennDOT spokesman Ron Young. PennDOT isn’t particularly interested in doing that, arguing the extra lights were never necessary. Alkhal said it’s hard to justify spending those extra millions of dollars, but the city is willing to hear from anyone about the change. It’s been about four years since the lights were shut off, and the city has only received a handful of complaints, Alkhal said.
Anyone who wants to contact the city regarding the lighting situation on Route 378 can contact the Department of Public Works at 610-865-7050.
Morning Call reporter Tom Shortell can be reached at 610820-6168 or tshortell@mcall .com.