ALLENTOWN, Pa. — More than 200 years after its inception, Allentown’s Center Square is close to realizing its full potential, according to local leaders.
A project to transform the city’s main intersection at Seventh and Hamilton streets officially got underway Monday evening as Mayor Matt Tuerk, state Sen. Nick Miller and some of the city’s other lawmakers led a downtown groundbreaking.
“As the center of commerce and development, this intersection so very much deserves this facelift."State Rep. Pete Schweyer
Flanked by ceremonial shovels and ongoing construction at the former Merchants National Bank building, the mayor highlighted the Center Square project’s place in a series of downtown investments.
“There’s … always a construction project,” Tuerk said, dubbing Allentown “Groundbreaking City, USA.”
Center Square’s reconfiguration “accomplishes a lot,” including improving pedestrian safety and adding green space to downtown, Miller said.
“There’s a lot going on at this intersection,” he said, crediting his colleagues for getting the project off “life support” several years ago.
‘The focal point’
The area around Seventh and Hamilton streets “is not just an intersection,” state Rep. Pete Schweyer said, calling it “the focal point” for many residents and visitors.
“As the center of commerce and development, this intersection so very much deserves this facelift,” he said.
Plans call for two of the area’s four plazas to be extended to improve pedestrian safety and create more public space.
The plaza at the southeast corner of the intersection, near Lehigh County Government Center, will be stretched to include the Soldiers and Sailors Monument, while the northeast plaza will be expanded.
That is set to eliminate several traffic lanes. After the project is completed, vehicles on Hamilton Street will no longer split around the monument; all eastbound traffic will be directed to the left of the statue, plans show.
The project also is set to cover the left-turn lane from Seventh Street to Hamilton Street with a pedestrian plaza.
A bike lane is planned for the side of two traffic lanes on Seventh Street.
The first phase of construction — at the northwest corner of the intersection, near PPL Center — is set to wrap up this week.
Four additional phases are planned through the summer, with the sixth and final phase set to end in early November, according to the city’s timelines.
‘Make it safer’
Speaking after the ceremony, Tuerk told LehighValleyNews.com he expects the new layout will “take a little bit of adjustment” for everyone using the plazas and roads.
Drivers may feel a little “pinch” near the monument, with fewer lanes on the road, “but sometimes that pinch will slow people down,” Tuerk said.
“If we can slow it down, we’ll make it safer.”
Allentown City Council Vice President Cynthia Mota issued a statement Monday morning after a child was hit by a vehicle about a block from Center Square over the weekend.
“One moment can change a life forever. No family should go through something like this.”Cynthia Mota, Allentown City Council vice president
Mota, who participated in the groundbreaking ceremony, said she was officiating a downtown wedding Saturday night when “the accident happened in front of the bride and many of the wedding guests.”
“It was heartbreaking and deeply emotional for everyone there,” she said. She urged drivers to slow down and “pay attention” and asked pedestrians “to stay alert.”
“One moment can change a life forever,” Mota said. “No family should go through something like this.”
