ALLENTOWN, Pa. — Deploying electric vehicle charging stations throughout the Lehigh Valley has passed another mile marker.
Lehigh Valley Transportation Study Committee on Wednesday released a priority list of locations throughout the region where EV infrastructure is most needed.
Feedback included placing charging stations anywhere and everywhere: street charging locations, public parking lots, parks, event venues, hotels, schools, medical facilities, retail spaces, public buildings and more.Lehigh Valley Planning Commission workshop
In May, Lehigh Valley Planning Commission held a workshop aimed at collecting feedback about where best to deploy EV infrastructure throughout the Lehigh Valley.
Feedback from the workshop included placing the charging stations anywhere and everywhere: street charging locations, public parking lots, parks, event venues, hotels, schools, medical facilities, retail spaces, public buildings and more.
The locations are listed in terms of priority, with gas stations, retail shopping locations, public parking lots/decks topping the list. The location priorities were also determined using traffic data and criteria set by PennDOT.
The next areas of priority are public transportation and transit hubs, parks and recreation areas, on-street charging, entertainment/event venues and community centers.
Also, medical facilities, hotel and lodging facilities, publicly accessible workplace charging, public buildings, education facilities, libraries, car dealerships, gymnasiums and fleet locations.
The geographic areas of priority are Allentown, Bethlehem, Easton, Whitehall Township, Lehigh Valley International Airport, Upper Macungie Township and near Routes 22, 33, 412, 309 and 512 and Interstate 476.
'Private sector is responding'
LVPC plans to work to develop and implement the electric vehicle infrastructure throughout the Lehigh Valley with private and public sector partners.
The EV charging station list from the Lehigh Valley will be forwarded to the state Transportation Department as part of a statewide list.
“The private sector is responding. Sheets, Wawa and new gas stations are implementing EV charging stations.”LVPC Executive Director Becky A. Bradley
It will be considered by the state for funding opportunities, LVPC Executive Director Becky A. Bradley said.
“The private sector is responding,” Bradley said. “Sheets, Wawa and new gas stations are implementing EV charging stations.”
The International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers is training its employees to install charging stations in commercial settings, Bradley said.
Charging stations were installed in the short-term parking lots at Lehigh Valley International Airport, said Thomas Stoudt, executive director of the Lehigh-Northampton Airport Authority, which operates the airport.
Another EV charging station has been installed at the airport’s corporate facilities and electric aircraft station, Stoudt said.
The Trump Administration this year halted distribution of unspent federal funds for EV charging stations from a $5 billion National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure formula program.
President Donald Trump called for ending a waiver for states to adopt zero emissions vehicle rules by 2035 and said his administration would consider ending EV tax credits.
