The Times Herald (Norristown, PA)
‘WE’RE READY’
Construction impact on traffic is the biggest question for PennDOT
that a previous open house concerning the first phase of Markley Street construction near Johnson Highway, which is now completed, had been better attended.
“I think it was because that section was a lot more residential and this phase of the construction concerns more businesses,” she said.
Still, Norristown Administrator Crandall Jones commended PennDOT on its efforts to keep residents informed.
“Council is excited and I’m excited to see this phase get started. We’re ready for it,” he said. “It’s going to be a significant amount of work when you talk about all the improvements that have be done with the road, with the bridge between Marshall and Main Street, and with
railroads involved it complicates it. There will be some traffic challenges, but it’s worth it. Every meeting that’s been had about this project we’ve had our engineers sitting in on those and we’ve been making sure that the community officials are briefed. None of this is a surprise to us. We just make sure that we’re keeping the interest of the community at the forefront.”
Jones noted that a misconception persists in some circles that Markley Street (U.S. 202 South) is owned by the municipality.
“This is actually a state road. The state owns the road, we don’t own the road,” Jones aid. “It’s not our project, it’s their road. But we want to assure people that this is not a project that happened without municipal involvement. Council and our engineering staff have been involved from the very beginning.”
Among the upgrades PennDOT will perform include rebuilding the fourlane section of Markley Street (U.S. 202 South) between Main Street and Marshall Street; reconstructing and widening Markley Street to provide one northbound lane, two southbound lanes and a center turn lane between Marshall Street and Elm Street; replace the two existing bridges for Markley Street over Stony Creek with a single bridge to accommodate five lanes of traffic; rehabilitating the Markley Street/ Elm Street stone arch bridge over Stony Creek; constructing a new sidewalk on the west side of Markley Street to link SEPTA train stations at Main Street and Elm Street; reconstructing and widening Main Street between Water Street and Barbadoes Street to provide additional travel lanes and improve traffic flow through the signalized intersection at Markley Street; installing brick pavers, trees and decorative pedestrian streetlights along Main Street between Barbadoes Street and Markley Street; upgrading railroad grade crossings at Main Street and Marshall Street by installing new gates and signals in coordination with SEPTA; installing Intelligent Transportation System (ITS) components to better manage traffic flow along both Markley Street and DeKalb Pike (U.S. 202 North) corridors; replacing existing Markley Street (U.S. 202 South) traffic signals at Main Street, Marshall Street and Elm Street and installing new ADA curb ramps at all intersections to include push buttons, countdown signals and continental crosswalks to enhance pedestrian safety.
While traffic will only be allowed south bound during construction between Elm Street and Main Street, access to all businesses and properties will be maintained at all times, PennDOT spokesman Brad Rudolph had pointed out earlier.
“Septa is aware and has modified their bus routes to minimize any impact the detour will have on their routes,” he said. “The detour for (northbound) traffic will be the same detour that was implemented in section 520 so it should be familiar to the general public. That is, the bulk of the traffic will be directed to exit off 202 in King of Prussia onto DeKalb Pike through Bridgeport, but the road will not actually be closed until 202 intersects Main Street. This means any northbound traffic that is accessing Main Street will not be effected by the closure.”
While there was no formal presentation by PennDOT officials on Thursday evening, guests were free to study the straightforward diagrams and ask questions.
Norristown Area School District director Shae Ashe said he wanted to determine the project’s impact on the school bus routes.
“At the facilities and finance meetings we look at transportation and the importance of projects like this,” he said. “I’m glad to see that it’s getting to the next stage.”
One resident wanted to know if Bridgeport is prepared to handle all the extra
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“There undoubtedly will be more traffic in Bridgeport because the official detour follows Us 202 North,” noted Matthew Edmond of the Montgomery County Planning Commission. “It’s going to be very similar to what Bridgeport experienced a couple of years ago when they were doing the upper part of Markley Street. But drivers can still use the Dannehower Bridge and can still get to Main Street, where they can go left or right. They just can’t go north on Markley Street.”
Rick Poplaski, a PennDOT consultant with Century Engineering, noted that one thing seemed foremost on visitors’ minds.
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