Regional planners eye intersection fixes
POTTSTOWN » Regional planners are hoping to turn studies on problem intersections into grant money to improve them.
Last January, members of the Pottstown Metropolitan Area Regional Planning Commission received a completed report from the multi-state Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission on the 18 worst intersections in the eight municipalities that comprise the local regional planning group.
John Cover, acting director of the Montgomery County Planning Commission, said “I don’t want this study to sit on a shelf, I’d like to see a success story come out of it.”
As a he result, he urged the planners to review the list and single out a few projects for which funding could be sought. Lower Pottsgrove representative Tom Troutman said he would like to see some intersections get better lighting.
He suggested two intersections on Bleim Road, one with New Hanover Square Road and the other with Pleasantview Road.
New Hanover Supervisor Kurt Zebrowski agree, and noted that the intersection of Route 73 and Middle Creek Road would be a good candidate for such treatment.
Pottstown Councilman Ryan Procsal suggested improvements to the intersection of East High Street and Armand Hammer Boulevard,
a busy intersection in front of Armand Hammer Boulevard.
Price estimates for the project range from $20,000 to $300,000.
Ultimately, the planners agreed with Cover’s suggestion that an expert from Montgomery County be invited to the next meeting to outline how Montco 2040 Implementation Grants county grants geared toward infrastructure can be
best obtained, and which intersections stood the best chance of getting funding.
High Street Corridor
In the meantime, DVRPC has engaged in a more focused study — of the High Street corridor from the Berks County line to the Limerick Township line.
An progress report offered up last night indicated that DVRPC has conducted counts of vehicles, heavy vehicles, pedestrians and bicycles; turning movements parking capacity and crosswalks. Crash diagrams and rates are still being developed.
In the meantime, the traffic count indicates that the busiest intersections are during the afternoon peak rush hour are with Armand Hammer in Pottstown and Rupert Road in Lower Pottsgrove,
both of which are likely connected to westbound Route 422 commuters returning home.
The opposite is true of heavy track traffic, which peaks in the morning, with the heaviest flow again being at Armand Hammer Boulevard, followed by Berks Street and Quarry Road in West Pottsgrove.
Top bicycle traffic occurs during the afternoon peak and is centered around central Pottstown and the intersection of East High and North Hanover streets, and those streets immediately adjacent.
Not surprisingly, the same is true of pedestrian traffic, it peaks in the afternoon rush and is centered in the borough core.
The first public meeting on the study will be scheduled in May.