A five-part series this week will explore traffic and transportation issues in the Lehigh Valley. Increasing traffic volume, dangerous driving and insufficient infrastructure are among the topics examined.
An influx of residents and warehouses have seen highways in Lehigh and Northampton counties grow more crowded. An analysis by LehighValleyNews.com finds some stretches of road have experienced increases of 40% to 50% in traffic volume. Route 33 has overtaken Interstate 78 as the region's second-busiest highway.
While state data doesn't show significant increases in distracted or aggressive driving, or that the Lehigh Valley is a hotspot for these incidents, it might still feel that way to everyday commuters. Those risky behaviors are far more common than the average driver would think.
Impaired driving is among the most persistent threats to road safety in the Lehigh Valley, according to two of the region's chief prosecutors.
Courts are trying to “strike a balance” between punishing drivers for their actions and helping them recover from underlying issues that may have led them to drive impaired, according to the region's chief prosecutors.
Only five Lehigh Valley school districts offer driver education of some kind. The local intermediate units and private driving schools fill in the gaps.
In Philadelphia, automated speed enforcement has been in use in targeted areas for more than a year. Now with months of data, will lawmakers approve expanding the program to municipalities across the commonwealth?
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Many interchanges on Route 22 and Route 309 are badly outdated, leaving drivers to navigate increasingly unsafe roads. PennDOT has plans to address several of them, including trouble spots in Fullerton and Center Valley. -
Lehigh Valley lawmakers have continued to raise concerns about traffic safety in the area. On Tuesday, Sen. Jarrett Coleman announced that PennDOT would designate Route 22 a safety corridor, which should be a step toward traffic safety, a PennDOT representative said.
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Bethlehem roadway improvements will include, but are not limited to, installation of curb bump outs and pedestrian refuge islands at certain intersections to reduce the crossing distance.
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Bethlehem City Council on Dec. 17 unanimously approved the work, allocating $57,850 for local firm Traffic Planning and Design Inc. to complete the preliminary design measures sometime this year but before Dec. 31.
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'I'm here to say I told you so': Whitehall traffic death, inaction, brings sorrow, frenzy at meetingAngry and frustrated family and friends of the late Edward Tomcics packed the Whitehall Township Board of Commissioners meeting on Monday, imploring them to address the speeding epidemic on Water Street. Tomcics, 75, was struck and killed outside his home on Dec. 25. An investigation into the incident is underway.
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PennDOT District 5 officials say there’s more than $240 million invested into road improvement projects in and around the Lehigh Valley entering 2025.
