MORE: Allentown residents get their say on Riverside Drive project, seek safety tweaks
WHITEHALL TWP., Pa. — A $57.6 million project that would turn two miles of abandoned railroad bed from Allentown to Whitehall Township into a connective roadway and trail would be completed by 2029, Whitehall officials and residents were told Monday.
The proposed Riverside Drive Multimodal Revitalization Corridor Project would make it easier to get around the Valley and open the possibility of developing housing, retail and recreation, Lehigh Valley Planning Commission Executive Director Becky Bradley said at a township commissioners meeting.
- The Riverside Drive Multimodal Revitalization Corridor project is opening the floor to public comment.
- It's proposed as a pathway, including bike, walking, running and motor vehicle access, that would re-purpose old abandoned railroads to increase access through Whitehall and Allentown.
- The total cost is expected to be $57.6 million.
The presentation was the first of three the Planning Commission expects to make about the project.
The Planning Commission has said the project is the "single most significant public-private partnership in the Lehigh Valley today."
Opening the floor
At Monday's meeting, Bradley and transport engineer Patrick Osei appeared eager to hear what the public thought of the idea — which already has achieved almost half its fundraising goal.
"These comments are very important, because you are within the community," Osei said, addressing the nearly full room. "You know what's best for your community, and we cannot just sit in our office and design something like this."
Some of the questions from commissioners, particularly Jeff Warren, included ensuring that appropriate safety features are in place — such as marked numbers along the trail and river that can be used if someone has to call for emergency help and can reference their location with a dispatcher.
Bradley said that will be taken into consideration.
From the public, comments were less focused on the project's price tag, and more on its ramps. Two Whitehall residents each asked how much thought would be put into on/off ramps in their communities.
"People in my neighborhood like to walk," resident Andrea Houghlin said. "As of now, we have a safe way to walk to the store, or wherever we're going. Did you take that into account?"
The LVPC responded that all of that will be structured into the project's design, in consultation with Whitehall and other affected municipalities.
Features
According to the Planning Commission, the project would create "safe, healthy and efficient transportation mode choices by connecting roadways, transit, sidewalks and trails into a more equitable and sustainable system while improving our environment and creating new housing and employment opportunities."
It has indicated it will fill in some missing links in the region, including creating a "north-south connection between the Lehigh and Northampton Transportation Authority’s [LANTA] bus rapid transit network."
The project would run along the west side of the Lehigh River from just south of Lehigh Avenue in Whitehall to Furnace Street in Allentown.
It would be a two-lane street with adjacent multi-use path, with connections proposed into the existing road network in the lower Fullerton area of Whitehall.
The multi-use path would continue north to connect to the existing Delaware and Lehigh Trail just north of Race Street [Bridge Street in the West Catasauqua area of Whitehall].
The project also would convert 450 feet more of an abandoned railroad bed between Hamilton Street and Union Street in Allentown to complete Riverside Drive.
Project documents show it would serve as a connection between suburban areas and retail/office spaces, improve emergency access, and improve access to schools and parks.
The project also promises it eventually would help create more than $100 million worth of opportunities for economically challenged areas, create more than 2,900 jobs, and increase real estate taxes from $120,000 to $4 million annually.
It also promises to serve as a connection to the 9/11 memorial trail, which is 1,300 miles, and links the World Trade Center, Pentagon and Flight 93 memorial.
Support, finances, and logistics
The project has had letters of support from Lehigh Valley city governments, as well as from U.S. Senator Pat Toomey. The state Transportation Department, St. Luke's University Health Network, PPL Center and LANTA also have signed on, as well as a long list of others from the project's website.
About half the project's cost is expected to come from the U.S. Transportation Department, and the other from regional funds, including private and public entities.
Future public meetings to collect comments on the project will be at 7 p.m. Thursday, May 11, at Bucky Boyle Park Training Room, 10 Pump Place, Allentown,and at 9 a.m. Wednesday, May 17, at a LVTS Technical Committee meeting at www.tinyurl.com/LVTS2023
Comments on the draft documents also will be accepted by email to planning@lvpc.org.
