Route 222 North Between Route 322 And Adamstown Now Open

Route 222 North has been reopened after closing for more than an hour between Route 322 and the Adamstown exit, state police said.

It was closed between 11 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. Tuesday to allow police to further investigate Sunday’s police pursuit and shooting along the highway, they said.

Northbound motorists were detoured to Route 322 West and Route 272 North.

Charges have been filed against the man who led officers from multiple police departments on a high-speed pursuit, rammed a police car head-on and drove his SUV directly at officers on foot Sunday morning on Route 222.

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http://lancasteronline.com/news/local/update-route-north-between-route-and-adamstown-now-open/article_14339e84-edbc-11e4-98c0-4398f0438b2e.html

Planner: Despite $90 Million Cost, Route 222 Widening Not A Return To Big PennDOT Projects

Map of Pennsylvania highlighting Lancaster County (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Friday evening, just as it is most evenings, traffic was backed up as drivers coming from U.S. 30 waited to merge onto Route 222 in Manheim Township.

Friday morning, just as it is most weekday mornings, the Route 222 traffic backed up merging onto U.S. 30.

The situation is nothing new to PennDOT.

With additional money coming from the new state transportation law, state Transportation Department officials will soon begin looking for ways to address the problem.

Read more: http://lancasteronline.com/conestogavalley/news/planner-despite-million-cost-route-widening-not-a-return-to/article_de7c88b6-bc32-11e3-a1a1-001a4bcf6878.html

Snowstorm Leads To Closures, Traffic Accidents Throughout Berks

Map of Pennsylvania highlighting Berks County (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

That darn groundhog.

Within 24 hours of forecasting six more weeks of winter, large dense snowflakes began falling in Berks County early Monday, and the storm continued to drop about an inch an hour before tapering off to flurries about 2:30 p.m.

Blame Phil if you were stuck in traffic behind one of the numerous crashes that occurred through the day or lost power from outages, but remember he wasn’t the only messenger.

Forecasters at AccuWeather, near State college, predicted this storm would bring wet, heavy snow that would affect the morning commute, and did it ever. By 11 a.m., with temperatures hovering around 32 degrees, at least a half a foot of snow had fallen in Berks County.

Read more: http://readingeagle.com/news/article/snowstorm-leads-to-closures-traffic-accidents-throughout-berks#.UvA5BvRDsxI

First Wave Of New Roads Funds Likely To Focus On Smaller Jobs

Map of Pennsylvania highlighting Berks County (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

In the next couple years, the engineering needed to widen the northern segment of Route 222 in Berks County is likely to begin.

That’s one of the ways PennDOT and local transportation planners are looking to spend the first round of extra roadwork funds coming to Berks as a result of the recent statewide transportation funding package.

“The increase in state money alone will give us an extra $25 million total over the next four years,” said Alan D. Piper, senior Berks transportation planner.

Planners discussed the money during a Thursday meeting of the Reading Area Transportation Study, the panel that plans transportation spending in Berks.

Read more: http://readingeagle.com/article/20140110/NEWS/301109921/1052#.UtBFP_RDsxI

Driver Charged In Fatality, But Road Shares Blame

Map of Berks County, Pennsylvania, United States with township and municipal boundaries (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

In a press conference aimed at Route 222 drivers but mostly at PennDOT, Berks County District Attorney John T. Adams announced Friday that police have filed homicide charges against the New Jersey trucker who caused the most horrific of several fatal accidents on that congested highway.

The Oct. 22, 2012, crash in Maidencreek Township killed Lauren Boyer, 45, of Richmond Township when a tractor-trailer squashed her stopped car into the stopped truck ahead of her.

It also injured three people, one of them still undergoing treatment and surgeries.

Earlier Friday, Northern Berks Regional Police filed charges of homicide by vehicle, involuntary manslaughter and related offenses against the truck driver, Emilio Perez-Pazmino, 62, of Jersey City.

Read more: http://readingeagle.com/article.aspx?id=515675

Route 222 Plans Accelerating

Map of Berks County, Pennsylvania, United States with township and municipal boundaries (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

It’s the snippet of Berks County where time appears to stop, and progress means inching forward in a line of brake lights that doesn’t seem to end.

Drivers and public officials in Berks have complained for years that the northern part of Route 222 – particularly the 7-mile stretch between the so-called Road to Nowhere expressway in Ontelaunee Township and the start of the Kutztown bypass in Richmond Township – is a commuting nightmare.  It’s also a safety hazard and a roadblock to economic growth.

But that could all change if Pennsylvania’s coffers for road projects get a little fill-up, PennDOT says.

The agency has committed to making Route 222 a four-lane highway from Reading to Kutztown if legislators adopt Gov. Tom Corbett’s plan to boost transportation funds through increases in wholesale gasoline taxes and structural changes to PennDOT.

Read more:  http://readingeagle.com/article.aspx?id=452737

Baby Pigs Abandoned On Route 222, Now At Berks County Animal Rescue League

Map of Berks County, Pennsylvania, United States with township and municipal boundaries (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

These little piggies were indeed going to market, until all 55 of them got left in the medial strip of Route 222 in Bern Township on Wednesday.

Today, they’re eating like little pigs at the Animal Rescue League of Berks County in Cumru Township, waiting for the owner to come get them.

“This is an interesting place,” said the league’s marketing director, Chris Shaughness. “You never know what you’re going to get into.”

The months-old piglets, weighing 20 to 30 pounds each, were still in the 5-by-7-foot trailer when Bern police got there about 2:30 Wednesday afternoon.

Read more:  http://readingeagle.com/article.aspx?id=433587

Planners Want To Expand Project At Routes 222, 73

Berks Countytransportation planners want to expand the effort to improve the Routes 222 and 73

Map of Berks County, Pennsylvania, United States with township and municipal boundaries (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

intersection in Maidencreek Township to include widening a traffic choke point approaching the crossing.

The additional work would involve widening a milelong stretch of Route 222 to two lanes in each direction from where the limited-access highway ends in Ontelaunee Township to the Route 73 intersection. A bridge on the stretch also would need to be replaced.

PennDOT would need to move money around in its budget for Berks County to free up $705,000 for engineering plans needed for the work.

Read more: http://readingeagle.com/article.aspx?id=399048

2 Cows Fall From Overpass Onto Route 222, Die

Map of Pennsylvania highlighting Berks County (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

They are among 14 that escaped from farm; police say 1 died on impact, and 1 hit by truck.

Cumru Township police Sgt. James Griffith experienced a first in his career when two cows died after falling onto Route 222 from the Old Lancaster Pike overpass near Gouglersville.

Griffith said one cow died on impact while the other was hit by a tractor-trailer about 10:30 p.m. Wednesday.

The cows belonged to a herd of 14 that escaped from a farm on Beavens Road in Brecknock Township, he said.

They were first spotted near the Gouglersville Fire Company about 1 p.m. before making their way to the retaining wall at the Old Lancaster Pike overpass, Griffith said.

 Read more: http://readingeagle.com/article.aspx?id=393230