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News

ARTICLE

Date ArticleType
6/14/2023

These major projects planned for I-78, Routes 309 and 378, and more in the Lehigh Valley. When you can expect them. - The Morning Call

These major projects planned for I-78, Routes 309 and 378, and more in the Lehigh Valley. When you can expect them.

By EVAN JONES | ejones@mcall.com | The Morning Call | PUBLISHED: June 14, 2023

With a growing population and workforce, there’s plenty of movement going on in the Lehigh Valley.

On Wednesday, officials from the Lehigh Valley Planning Commission, Lehigh Valley International Airport, LANTA and PennDOT updated business officials on how they plan to keep things going amidst that growth.

“The value of the Lehigh Valley’s economy is larger than Alaska or New Hampshire,” LVPC Executive Director Becky Bradley said during the Greater Lehigh Valley Chamber of Commerce’s annual transportation forum at the Mack Experience Center in Allentown. “Now, whether we want to be or not, we are the largest new freight facility development in the United States of America. Our great profile has been growing steadily.”

There will be improvements to highways and airports, while public transportation will try to keep up, officials said.

Audience members applaud after a speech from PennDOT Deputy Secretary for Highway Administration Mike Rebert during the Greater Lehigh Valley Chamber of Commerce Transportation Forum on Wednesday, June 14, 2023, at the Mack Experience Center in Allentown. (Rebecca Villagracia/The Morning Call)

Highways

With the recent bridge collapse along Interstate 95 in Philadelphia, Mike Rebert, deputy secretary of highway administration for PennDOT, has been busy lately. But he had time to stop in the Lehigh Valley to give updates on various projects of interest, especially on Interstate 78.

The interstate is being revamped in Berks County, with the bridge over the Schuylkill River being widened in Hamburg and the road improved between Lenhartsville and the Lehigh County line.

In the next decade, a similar project will come to I-78 between the Route 100 exit in Upper Macungie Township and the Berks line.

“We’ve got to have our infrastructure in order,” Rebert said, “for trucks, vehicles, buses, airplanes to come and go. Coming from the west to New York, or continuing west to Harrisburg, projects on 78 in the Lehigh Valley is something we’re going to see in the near future. We have a project plan for 78 in western Lehigh County that’s very similar [to the Berks project], where we’re going to be going to three lanes and upgrading interchanges.”

Estimated at $280 million, the project will feature the reconstruction of the Route 100 interchange and a new interchange with Adams Road, about a mile to the west. The New Smithville interchange will also be improved.

“That is a long way out,” Rebert said. “We are reviewing design and preliminary engineering and we’re probably looking at alternatives at this point.”

He gave a list of other upcoming projects and potential dates:

LVIA expansion

Tom Stoudt, executive director of the Lehigh-Northampton Airport Authority, said the security checkpoint expansion is about 90% complete and should be open this summer.

The $35 million project will feature a four-lane Transportation Security Administration checkpoint and the separation of outbound and inbound passenger flow, along with better air flow and enhanced Americans with Disabilities Act compliance. It will more than double the passenger screening volume from 300 per hour to 740 per hour.

It comes at a good time, as passenger traffic has been on the upswing for the fourth-largest airport in the state. Stoudt said 912,000 passengers passed through the airport in 2022, which is a return to pre-pandemic levels. During COVID, that number dropped to 390,000, a level comparable to 1972.

A key to the recovery was the early 2020 deal with Allegiant Air to base aircraft at LVIA. Stoudt said reservations are on the increase.

“We’re starting to see what it brings back here,” Stoudt said of the arrangement. “[Thursday], the Denver service starts and we actually set a record. [Allegiant] said they couldn’t believe the number of reservations coming in through the reservation system. We’re up to over 7,000 reservations this morning.”

Stoudt said the airport is looking to continue expanding direct service. Boston, Dallas, Las Vegas and San Juan, Puerto Rico, along with Orlando International Airport are on the list.

Stoudt also noted a potential concern: passenger demand outpacing capacity as airlines try to hire more pilots. Major carriers have been hiring them away from regional carriers.

Meanwhile, cargo through LVIA is expected to reach 250 million pounds this year, a 900% increase from 2014. A big driver of that was the rise of e-commerce during the pandemic.

“We’re working on looking at how air cargo is being accommodated,” Stoudt said.

LANTA

LANTA Executive Director Owen O’Neil said the Valley’s transit system is both underused and underfunded.

While the system is 90% back to its pre-COVID annual ridership of 4.5 million, it faces some obstacles as it tries to keep up with the region’s growth.

O’Neil said the Lehigh Valley is the 60th largest metropolitan area in the U.S. and 160th in utilization of its transit system. By comparison, Albany, New York, is the 67th largest metro and 36th in utilization.

To make matters worse, there hasn’t been a growth in funding, which is forcing LANTA to stretch service. There was a funding boost during COVID, O’Neil said, but that was a one-time infusion of cash.

“We cannot operate without funding,” O’Neil said.

With the increase in warehouses and medical facilities in the Valley, LANTA has been trying to expand its routes.

“We’re trying to stretch resources to serve new areas,” O’Neil said. “But we’re stretched thinner and thinner. At our current funding level, it’s not enough to continue growing the system.”

LANTA has been trying to be more efficient with such concepts as bus rapid transit, which allows buses to move around the Valley between cities and popular destinations, allowing for more frequent service along specific routes.

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