The people of Somerton have heard what the other side (Lower Moreland Township) has to say about the Woodhaven Road/Route 63 project.
They heard all of it during a Jan. 29 meeting attended by hundreds of residents from both communities at Lower Moreland High School.
Now that the posturing is over, the Somerton folks think it’s time for the planning to begin.
On Feb. 12, the Somerton Civic Association took the first steps in a potential court battle against the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation over the Woodhaven Road issue, voting to accept an offer of legal assistance from the private Delaware Valley High School.
The school, located on Bustleton Avenue near Prospect Street, sits directly in the path of one of the road-construction alternatives proposed by PennDOT for the alleviation of traffic congestion in the Woodhaven/Byberry Road corridor.
Under the Bustleton Avenue Alternative, the avenue would be widened from County Line Road south to intersect a new Woodhaven Road interchange near the present site of the Leo Mall.
According to SCA president Mary Jane Hazell and Delaware Valley High board member David T. Shulick, that widening would be done along the west side of the avenue — directly in the path of more than 20 properties, including the school.
“Never did we imagine that the state would be coming in to build a road through the front doors of our school,” said Shulick, who is a practicing attorney with offices in Center City, the Northeast and Cherry Hill, N.J.
The Bustleton alternative was one of four, including a “no-build,” presented by PennDOT at the Jan. 29 meeting.
The state agency has yet to settle on one of the four, although two state legislators from the area have stated publicly that they will not settle for the status quo, that is, the no-build option.
Also, a public poll taken at the Jan. 29 meeting revealed that only 6 percent of respondents favored an option that would widen Byberry Road, effectively eliminating that alternative as a viable one.
Meanwhile, public support was evenly split between the Bustleton Avenue Alternative and one that would extend Woodhaven beyond Bustleton, ending it at Philmont Avenue in Lower Moreland.
The Somerton Civic Association supports the latter plan, known as the Woodhaven Extension Alternative, with some modifications.
So does the high school, which, Shulick said, has hired outside legal representation from one of the city’s most prominent firms and is willing to do the same for the civic association in their parallel fight. The SCA voted overwhelmingly to accept the offer. There was one dissenting vote.
“We have the money to fight, and we’re going to fight to the Supreme Court if we have to,” Shulick said.
The high school believes that PennDOT should use an existing right of way purchased with tax dollars decades ago to extend the existing Woodhaven Road from its present terminus at Evans Street west to Philmont Avenue. More than 30 families were displaced by the state when it purchased the ground.
Hazell said that the SCA agrees, although it remains critical of the latest Woodhaven Extension proposal, which calls for a four-lane road.
The road was originally proposed as two lanes, Hazell claimed. A four-lane project would cause excessive hardship on homeowners living next to the right of way, she contends. The area — west of Bustleton Avenue and south of Byberry Road — is known as the Westwood section.
“If they make it four lanes, it will become a nightmare for the people of Westwood,” Hazell said. “If they make it four lanes, (PennDOT is) going to have to buy houses on (both) sides (of the proposed extension).”
Although a group of residents from Westwood have opposed the road and the SCA’s support for it in past years, Hazell hopes to create a unified Somerton.
“We don’t live in a cocoon,” she said. “We have to look out for everybody. They are Somertonians, as well.”
No legal action has been taken by the civic association or the high school. Shulick explained that his first step would be to send a letter to the governor and various state officials explaining the school’s concerns with the Bustleton Avenue Alternative and asking a series of questions about it.
“At the same time, we are mounting a legal battle and a political battle,” Shulick said.
In other SCA business:
• Bill Rubin, a member of the county Board of Elections staff, demonstrated the city’s new computerized voting machines. The presentation contained elements directed at voters and poll workers.
For poll workers, the machines are much simpler to operate and count votes much quicker at the end of Election Day, Rubin said. Meanwhile, voters can register their selections and even change them simply by pushing a square on the ballot.
The ballot number system with which voters have become so familiar will be retained. Also, the machines are adjustable for smaller people and those restricted to wheelchairs.
• Hazell announced that nominations for SCA executive board positions will be taken at the next general meeting on Tuesday, March 12, at 7:30 p.m. at Walker Lodge 306, 1290 Southampton Road. The available offices include president, vice president, corresponding secretary, treasurer and zoning chair.
• Capt. Mark Everitt, commander of the 7th Police District, reported that about half of a series of recent residential burglaries in the district occurred in Somerton. There were 21 such crimes in the neighborhood (out of 41 in the district) in a one-month span.
Most of the crimes (14) targeted private homes. Six were apartments, and one was a shed on residential property. Most of the crimes have occurred during the day when most people are at work.
In response, Everitt has added additional officers in high-volume areas. The citywide major crimes unit has also become involved in the investigation.
Everitt asked that residents take extra care to secure their homes and to take note of unfamiliar faces or suspicious activity in their neighborhoods. Witnesses should call 911 if they suspect a crime may be in progress.
Meanwhile, victims should be careful not to disturb a crime scene upon its discovery. Often, victims will touch things and disturb clues, including fingerprint evidence, Everitt said. Police should be called immediately.