As discussions continue regarding a westerly bypass for Allentown, the Borough Council and residents continue to weigh their limited options.
by David Kilby, Special Writer
ALLENTOWN — As discussions continue regarding a westerly bypass for Allentown, the Borough Council and residents continue to weigh their limited options.
The topic was brought up again at the council meeting Dec. 11.
Ann Garrison, of High Street, said a traffic study from approximately 15 years ago showed that 30 percent of traffic in Allentown comes from Mercer County, but a large portion of traffic comes from much further away.
”As the state grows our traffic naturally grows,” Ms. Garrison said. “We need a new traffic study.”
Mayor Stuart Fierstein confirmed that the last study revealed that traffic in the borough comes from “13 different states and over 100 different towns.”
The mayor added that many people have noted how Allentown is a challenging town for trucks to maneuver through since it has one arm of a bypass on the east side, but no westerly bypass.
Council President Michael Schumacher explained that building a new bypass is difficult due to all of the bodies of water and wetlands surrounding the borough, which the bypass would have to cross over.
”It would probably be something like the (interstates) 195-295 interchange where you’ve got an elevated roadway going over actual swampland,” he said.
Councilwoman Audrey Mount agreed that the borough needs to move forward in getting a westerly bypass, noting oftentimes when tractor trailers come down Church Street and turn left onto Main Street they have to swing all the way by Di Mattia’s Restaurant, three buildings to the right, to make the left turn.
Mr. Schumacher mentioned that once there is a westerly bypass, Church Street, which is now County Road 526, would become a municipal street.
Mayor Fierstein explained that the intention is to move traffic from county roads to state roads, since such roads are more passable for heavy traffic.
Mr. Schumacher concurred that it’s more reasonable for residents on county roads to have trucks passing by their house a few hundred feet away.
”When you’re 300 feet from a county road you can plant trees if you want, but when you’re 9 feet from the road, like many homes on Main Street and Church Street, there isn’t much that can be done,” he said.