ALLENTOWN, Pa. — A yearslong collaboration billed as the Lehigh Valley’s “most significant public-private partnership” has finally cleared Allentown’s planning approval process.
Planning commissioners on Tuesday unanimously approved a $57 million project to convert miles of former railroad tracks into roads and trails between Hamilton Street in Allentown and Race Street in Whitehall Township.
The Riverside Drive Multimodal Revitalization Corridor is a joint undertaking with both municipalities, Lehigh Valley Planning Commission and the state Transportation Department.
Leaders in local municipalities “decided that we were going to band together and work together to try to close this gap."Becky Bradley, Lehigh Valley Planning Commission executive director
The project started about 10 years ago, when officials identified a several-mile stretch that includes the Riverside Drive area as “the biggest gap” in the Delaware & Lehigh National Heritage Corridor trail system, LVPC Executive Director Becky Bradley told the commission Tuesday.
Leaders in local municipalities “decided that we were going to band together and work together to try to close this gap,” Bradley said.
The project four years ago landed a $21.2 million grant from the U.S. Transportation Department, and developer Mark Jaindl agreed to donate the land for the Allentown part of the conversion, Bradley said.
Officials are working to secure the remaining funding.
The Lehigh Valley Transportation Study this summer awarded the project $1.8 million through its Carbon Reduction Program, which is funded by the Inflation Reduction Act.
Phased project
The project gained steam in May 2023, when residents weighed in during a meeting at Bucky Boyle Park.
Some of their suggestions, including a ban on tractor-trailers and traffic-calming measures, will be part of the final plan, Bradley said.
Six speed tables are planned in Whitehall and also could be installed on Allentown’s part of Riverside “to prevent anybody from using it as a drag raceway during offhours,” PennDOT Project Manager Christine Frey said.
The Riverside Drive project is set to redevelop the old railroad bed in several phases.
Construction is slated to begin in the spring of 2028 and finish by mid-2029.Project engineer Chris Stanford
The first phase includes the “Hamilton Gateway,” where Hamilton and Union streets meet, with the second phase to stretch from Linden Street north to Furnace Street.
The project’s final phase will extend the new road and trails north to Race Street in Whitehall.
Officials will spend the next two years designing the project and securing permits, engineer Chris Stanford said Tuesday.
Construction is slated to begin in spring 2028 and finish by mid-2029.
All work must be done by September 2029, according to conditions of the $21.2 million federal grant.
Whitehall planning officials are scheduled to consider the Riverside Drive project Aug. 20, with the full Lehigh Valley Planning Commission to review it Aug. 28.
