Bethlehem To Reverse Back-In Angled Parking On Main Street

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

Editor’s note:  Come on Pottstown, follow suit!

The back-in angled parking on Bethlehem‘s Main Street is going to be reversed.

Mayor Bob Donchez said merchants on that end of Main Street have long been asking for the parking to be switched to head-in and he’s complying with their requests.

“It was clear the back-in angle parking was a negative to bringing people to lower Main Street,” Donchez said. “It’s the right thing to do to help the merchants.”

Donchez is hopeful the switch could occur in time for the Celtic Classic Highland Games & Festival scheduled Sept. 26-28 or shortly thereafter.

Read more: http://www.lehighvalleylive.com/bethlehem/index.ssf/2014/08/bethlehem_to_reverse_back-in_a.html

Sanatoga Interchange Development Potential Explored

Location of Lower Pottsgrove Township in Montgomery County (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

LOWER POTTSGROVE TOWNSHIP — As the housing and construction market begins to pick-up steam again, township leaders are turning their eyes toward the development potential of land near the Route 422 Sanatoga interchange.

Thursday night, consultant Peter Simone outlined those for the township commissioners options contained in the master plan for the region now under consideration.

Much of the development at that locale is on the Limerick Township side of the road — namely the Philadelphia Outlets and the Costco.

But the two townships have been planning together for further development in that area for several years now, Simone said.

Read more: http://www.pottsmerc.com/article/20130825/NEWS01/130829544/sanatoga-interchange-development-potential-explored#full_story

Studies On 2 Berks Highways To Shape Work Plans

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Studies to find out what it would take to make two of Berks County’s most-congested highways a quicker go are now underway.

PennDOT consultants are examining the seven-mile stretch of Route 222 between the Kutztown Bypass in Maxatawny Township and the Trexlertown Bypass in Lehigh County to see how much it would cost to widen it to four lanes.

At the same time, another team is looking at the West Shore Bypass between Wyomissing and Exeter Township to determine what changes could improve traffic flow.

Both studies were discussed Thursday during a meeting of the Reading Area Transportation Study, the panel that plans how state and federal transportation funds are spent in Berks.

Read more:  http://readingeagle.com/article.aspx?id=474858

Perry Township Panel Rejects Preliminary Plans For Industrial Park

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

Perry Township residents burst into applause Wednesday night when the township planning commission voted unanimously to deny approval of preliminary plans to turn the Perry Golf Course into an industrial park.

More than 75 residents were packed into the small meeting room for the session, which was preceded by a small-scale demonstration.

Many of those who demonstrated were residents of Zions Church Road, which the developers have planned on using as the entry point for the industrial park.

Several carried signs that urged moving the entrance to the proposed industrial park to Zweizig Road from Zions Church Road.

Matt Clymer, of Key Development Group, Chester County, the group pursuing the industrial park, said the decision wasn’t unexpected.

Read more:  http://readingeagle.com/article.aspx?id=474646

Lehigh Valley Planners’ Review Of Costco Shopping Center On Hold

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The developers planning to bring a $140 million Costco-anchored shopping center to Lower Macungie asked the Lehigh Valley Planning Commission Thursday to postpone their formal review of the project to allow them to better explain their traffic improvements.

The sudden change in plans came two days after Lehigh County Commissioner Percy Dougherty told his board that he expected the planners to oppose the project’s traffic plan during their Thursday meeting.

Jeremy Fogel of the Goldenberg Group, one of two developers proposing the shopping center, said Friday that he and partner Tim Harrison of Staten Island wanted to meet with planners before they finalize their review and make recommendations. The shopping center, billed as a center modeled after the Promenade Shops of Saucon Valley, is planned for 63 acres to the east and west of Krocks Road, between Hamilton Boulevard and the Route 222 bypass.

“While they have some information that we submitted to the township, they do not have anywhere close to the full file of information related to transportation issues that has been created during the two-plus years that we have been working with [the state Department of Transportation],” Fogel wrote in an e-mailed response to questions.

Read more:  http://www.mcall.com/news/local/eastpenn/mc-lehigh-valley-planning-commission-hamilton-cros-20130426,0,7797015.story