 |
|
|
| |
|
|
|
C O M M I S S I O N N E W S R E L E A S E |
||
Contact: |
Christina M. Hampton, (610) 292-3785 |
June 13, 2002 |
|
PHILADELPHIA,
PA - - The Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission will hold an open-house
public meeting from 2:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. on Thursday, June 20, 2002
to review and discuss the status of the feasibility study for the proposed
six-lane widening and total reconstruction of the Northeast Extension from
the Mid-County Interchange (exit 25A) to the Lansdale Interchange (exit
31) in Upper Gwynedd, Towamencin, and Worcester Townships in Montgomery
County.
Preliminary designs for proposed slip ramps near Schultz Road in
Worcester and at Township Line Road in Whitpain will also be presented.
Slip ramps, which are E-ZPass (electronic toll) only access ramps, allow
E-ZPass customers to enter and exit the highway at points located between
existing interchanges. The
open-house meeting will take place in the cafeteria at North Penn
High School, 1340 Valley Forge Road in Lansdale.
The purpose of the meeting is to present the results of the
widening studies to date, including engineering alternatives and any
potential impacts to the community and environment as well as to receive
input from the public. The
study’s objective is to provide an additional travel lane both north and
southbound on the Pennsylvania Turnpike’s Northeast Extension (I-476)
between the Mid-County Interchange (exit 25A) and the Lansdale Interchange
(exit 31), establish the best overall design, identify any environmental
consequences of the design, and improve safety and capacity. Unprecedented
growth in the suburban Philadelphia region, represented by many office
parks, super-shopping centers and residential development has contributed
to severe and growing congestion on the Pennsylvania Turnpike and
surrounding highways. “To accommodate current and future traffic demands and
provide a safer, more comfortable and convenient roadway for travelers and
commuters in the Philadelphia region, the Turnpike plans to widen the
highway in this area from four (4) to six (6) lanes,” said Turnpike
Executive Director John Durbin.
The
first section of the highway to be widened to six lanes was a 17-mile
stretch of the mainline Turnpike between the Philadelphia Interchange
(exit 28) and the junction with the Northeast Extension in the 1980’s. In
1999 the Turnpike Commission began a feasibility study for the proposed
widening covering 16 miles and includes two sections of the highway in
Montgomery County: 5.8 miles of the mainline Turnpike from Valley Forge
Interchange (exit 24) to Norristown Interchange (exit 25), not including
the Schuylkill Rive Bridge, and 10.3 miles from Mid-County Interchange
(exit 25A) to the Lansdale Interchange (exit 31) on the Northeast
Extension (I-476). The
feasibility study for the east/west portion of the highway was completed
in summer of 2000. The
Northeast Extension stretches from the Mid-County Interchange (exit 25A)
in Plymouth Township, Montgomery County to Clark Summit Toll Plaza (exit
39) in Scranton. Formerly
known as PA Route 9, the 110-mile highway was officially redesignated as
I-476 in 1996 when it became part of the national Interstate Highway
System. Large
aerial photographs identifying key aspects of the project such as bridge
replacements, noise sensitive areas, and noise monitoring locations will
be displayed at the public meeting. A
video, providing background information on what is involved in the noise
study process, will be available for the public to view. Representatives from the Turnpike Commission and their Design Consultants will be available for explanation and discussion of the project. The feasibility study for the widening of the Turnpike in Montgomery County is being conducted by a team of consulting firms, led by Urban Engineers, Inc. of Philadelphia, PA and includes STV, Inc. Douglasville, PA and A. D. Marble & Company, Inc. of Conshohocken, PA. |
||
### |
||
P.O. Box 67676, Harrisburg, PA 17106-7676 Phone: (717) 939-9551 Fax: (717) 986-9649 |
||