By Tom Waring
Times Staff Writer

Patrick Cardamone isn’t confident that an extension to Woodhaven Road will ever be built.
“The world will end before this is built,” he said.
Cardamone has lived at 1108 Byberry Road since 1950. He’s tired of endless traffic studies and what he calls unfounded concerns about wetlands.
The longtime resident wants to simply live on a street that doesn’t resemble a noisy highway. He’s witnessed more than 100 accidents near his house.
“I stopped counting,” he said.
Cardamone met state Sen. Mike Stack (D-5th dist.) and U.S. Rep. Joe Hoeffel (D-13th dist.), who last week walked along Byberry Road to Woodhaven Road to see firsthand the traffic problems in the area.
Cardamone wants Woodhaven Road extended now, even if the project has to be divided into two phases.
Hoeffel explained that the best way to obtain the necessary government funding for the program would be to agree on one comprehensive plan.
Stack insisted that the political will is there for the project to be completed, though the 78-year-old Cardamone remains skeptical that he’ll ever see it happen.
The legislators agree that the heavy traffic on Byberry Road heading both ways hurts the quality of life for residents.
Harry Bastian, who lives on the 1100 block of Byberry Road, said traffic has increased in the 16 years that he’s lived there.
The worst times, according to Bastian, are weekdays from 7 to 9 a.m. and 3 p.m. through the evening rush hour.
Backing out of his side driveway onto Byberry Road is difficult, he said. How long does it take?
“Until the first nice person comes along,” he said.
Andy Jardine, who lives on the 700 block of Byberry Road, said the heavy traffic is dangerous for a road so close to the Watson T. Comly and St. Christopher elementary schools.
Jardine would like to see Woodhaven Road extended to Philmont Avenue.
“That would be fine. It would get rid of a lot of this,” he said, pointing to a mid-afternoon traffic jam.
Any solution to the Woodhaven Road problems will be a joint city-state effort. Stack has worked with state Rep. George Kenney (R-170th dist.) and U.S. Rep. Robert Borski (D-3rd dist.) on the matter.
Borski, a member of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, declined to run again after his district was merged with Hoeffel’s.
Before Hoeffel can help make a Woodhaven Road extension a reality, he needs to win re-election in November. He doesn’t represent all of the area; he shares much of it with Rep. Jim Greenwood (R-8th dist.).
Eighty percent of the funds for any extension would come from the federal government, with the state picking up the rest.
At present, Woodhaven Road ends at Evans Street. Motorists turn left onto Evans to continue west on Byberry Road. The problem is made worse when the traffic light at Byberry and Evans is red.
Six months ago, Stack and Kenney endorsed a plan that would extend the Woodhaven Road expressway westward in four lanes (two in each direction) to Bustleton Avenue. The road would be reduced to two lanes (one each way) to Philmont Avenue. There would be an exit at Bustleton Avenue.
That plan would require minimal building demolition. It would cost an estimated $45 million.
Stack has lobbied the Street administration on behalf of the plan, hoping the city can convince Philadelphia legislators to back the effort. In addition, the Department of Streets could provide some money toward the project.
Stack, a lifelong Somerton resident, knows all about the traffic woes on Byberry Road.
“Look how far the backup is,” he said, pointing to westbound Byberry Road, with cars stopped several hundred yards short of the traffic light at Bustleton Avenue.
It didn’t take long for Hoeffel, who lives in Abington, to understand the magnitude of the problem. And it wasn’t even 3:30 p.m. The heart of rush hour was still to come.
“This is ridiculous,” he said.
Stack and Hoeffel ended their tour at Woodhaven Road and Evans Street. The cars were backed up waiting to turn onto Evans — “as far as the eye can see,” Stack said.
Hoeffel labeled as “irresponsible” and “ridiculous” any calls for a no-build option.
“To me, it is completely unacceptable,” he said.
Hoeffel said government is in the business of making things work, and Woodhaven Road doesn’t work, in his opinion.
The project is expected to take 10 years, but Stack hopes to put it on the fast track. His goal is to have the road extended in five years.
“We’ve got to do it sooner rather than later,” he said.
Hoeffel thinks the outcome of the governor’s race could be important when it comes to the future of Woodhaven Road.
Former Philadelphia Mayor Ed Rendell is leading in the polls and would have some knowledge of the problem if elected. Also, Philadelphia legislators more directly involved with the project would probably begin lobbying the new governor soon after he takes office.
“If it’s Gov. Rendell, that’s a plus,” Hoeffel said.

Tom Waring can be reached at 215-354-3034 or twaring@phillynews.com