Three elected officials representing Northeast Philadelphia believe that they have the solution to the Woodhaven Road expressway dilemma and, in turn, to much of the Far Northeast’s traffic woes. Now their task is to convince everybody else that they have the solution.
State Sen. Mike Stack and state Rep. George Kenney have agreed on a specific plan to back for the decades-old Woodhaven Road (Route 63) project, a concept that has been resurrected in recent months by the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation.
The state lawmakers say that U.S. Rep. Bob Borski is on board, too, and will be co-signing a letter that will be sent to numerous city, state and federal officials advocating for their plan.
Borski, Stack and Kenney met with city planners at Stack’s Parkwood office on March 1 to review the plan, which appears to be a revised version of the Woodhaven extension alternative presented by PennDOT to the community at a public hearing on Jan. 29 at Lower Moreland High School in Montgomery County.
The lawmakers say that the plan addresses the need for another east-west route through the Somerton neighborhood, yet it remains sensitive to the concerns of both Somerton and Lower Moreland residents who fear that a new road and re-routed traffic will disrupt their communities.
“It’s bipartisan,” said Stack (D-5th dist.). “We really wanted to get together and do the best thing for the area.”
“Unless we’re united in a plan that we all support, it would be difficult to get PennDOT to move on it,” added Kenney (R-170th dist.).
Borski, a Democrat who recently announced that he will not run again for office this year after 20 years in Congress, did participate in the meeting, according to aide Karen Peck. Peck was unable to confirm Borski’s support for the plan late last week.
Borski is declining to run following congressional reapportionment that moved his 3rd district to the northwest part of the state and included much of Northeast Philadelphia in Montgomery County’s 13th Congressional District, now represented by Democrat Joe Hoeffel.
Although Borski will be leaving office in 10 months, Stack believes that the congressman’s role as a key Democrat on the House Transportation Committee can be helpful. Although PennDOT has final say on implementing any plan, about 80 percent of the funding will come from the federal government.
“In the next few months, (Borski) can be vital with this,” Stack said.
The state lawmakers will also seek support from Hoeffel in Montgomery County, Stack said, as well as U.S. Rep. Jim Greenwood, state Sen. Robert M. Tomlinson and state Reps. Matt Wright and Gene DiGirolamo, all Bucks County Republicans, Kenney said.
Much like the Woodhaven extension option presented at the Jan. 29 hearing and detailed in Feb. 6 editions of the Northeast Times, the plan endorsed by Stack and Kenney would extend the existing Woodhaven Road expressway westward in four lanes (two in each direction) to Bustleton Avenue.
Between Bustleton and Philmont avenues, however, the road would be reduced to two lanes (one in each direction).
There would be an exit at Bustleton and intersection upgrades at both Bustleton and Philmont, according to Joe Steward, Stack’s chief of staff. The plan also includes extending Northeast Avenue northward to join existing Worthington Road at Byberry Road in Somerton.
In addition, new foot bridges would improve pedestrian safety for those crossing Byberry Road in Somerton. Only four buildings would be demolished to make way for the road construction, Steward said.
Three are on Evans Street, the two-lane side street connecting existing Woodhaven Road with Byberry Road, and the other one is at Byberry and Philmont. The latter structure is a former gas station that is vacant, according to Stack’s aide.
The estimated cost is $40.85 million, which is at the low end of estimates previously offered by PennDOT officials. Other plans could cost more than $50 million.
“We laid out a compromise plan that addresses northbound traffic and westbound traffic,” said Kenney.
The plan does not involve widening Bustleton Avenue or Byberry Road (in either Somerton or Lower Moreland).
It is better than the Bustleton Avenue option favored by many Lower Moreland residents because it gives motorists the option of two routes (Woodhaven or Byberry), rather than just one widened route, the lawmakers contend.
“You still need an alternate route,” said Kenney, who contends that widening existing roads wouldn’t do enough to alleviate traffic congestion.
Kenney fears that motorists would begin using local roads, like Rennard and Hendrix streets, if Woodhaven is ended at Bustleton Avenue, as proposed in PennDOT’s Bustleton Avenue option.
“(The plan should) appease folks in Bucks (County) because it’s not diverting all of the traffic up to them,” Stack said.
Meanwhile, he continued, Montgomery County residents should be satisfied because the plan allows Northeast and Bucks residents to exit Woodhaven at Bustleton Avenue.
“I think they’re moving in a direction where they know something has to be done,” said Stack, who represents a portion of Lower Moreland. “They’re bargaining for the least-drastic (solution). This is perfect for that situation.”
Also, folks in the Westwood section of Somerton, who have been living along a state-owned right-of-way reserved for the Woodhaven extension for decades, should prefer a new two-lane road through their community, rather than a four-lane highway, Stack concluded.
In addition to the revised plan, the senator hopes PennDOT will adopt a revised schedule, too.
“We have seen estimates that it will take seven to ten years to build the road,” Stack said. “I have not ruled out the option of fast-tracking it.”