By William Kenny
Times Staff Writer
One session showcased a battle of fundamental ideas, while the other developed into a forum for general community dissatisfaction.
How will last week’s two-part public hearing hosted by the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation impact the Woodhaven Road project? That remains unclear.
But if the testimony is any indication, a lot of folks will be very disappointed with whatever plan is adopted.
Area residents who missed both sessions (at the Pennsylvania National Guard Armory on June 24 and Lower Moreland High School on June 26) can still chime in on the debate by submitting written testimony to PennDOT by July 11.
Letters should be mailed to Joseph Capella, project manager, PennDOT District 6-0, 7000 Geerdes Blvd., King of Prussia, PA 19406.
Last week’s oral testimony reflected much the same opinions that have been expressed repeatedly over the last several months, with many Somerton residents supporting extension of the existing Woodhaven Expressway and others opposing it.
The armory session featured testimony from both sides, while the Lower Moreland High session was almost exclusively anti-expressway.
“An overwhelming majority of testimony today pertains to (declining) property values and the impact on the quality of life in the neighborhoods, and there’s been some discussion of environmental issues,” Andy Warren, PennDOT’s District 6-0 administrator, said during Thursday’s session.
“In the first session, a lot of people said ‘Build it.’ But both (sessions) have been very orderly and have done exactly what the process is supposed to do. The testimony has really been focused on the project.”
According to PennDOT figures, 102 people testified at the armory — 61 publicly and 41 privately — and 375 attended the session. At Lower Moreland High, 587 people showed up with 270 offering testimony — 123 publicly and 147 privately.
After July 11, PennDOT will compile all of the oral and written testimony, respond to the concerns raised and incorporate all of the documents into the project’s final Environmental Impact Statement (EIS). A draft EIS was released last month for public review in advance of the hearing.
It outlines the components, costs and impacts of four distinct “build” plans, in addition to one “no-build” option. Interestingly, there was little, if any, support at the hearings for any of the existing PennDOT proposals.
Three of the PennDOT plans include extending the Woodhaven Road Expressway westward from Evans Street at least as far as Bustleton Avenue. Two plans would take the new road to Philmont Avenue.
The Somerton Civic Association supports full extension of the road but opposes new construction on other local tributary roads at the expense of residential and commercial properties.
“I am here to reject all of the proposed plans that you have submitted in your 2003 (draft) EIS study,” Mary Jane Hazell, president of the Somerton Civic Association, said during the armory session.
Hazell’s organization has offered its own plan in which the existing expressway would be extended in four lanes westward from its current terminus at Evans Street to Bustleton Avenue. Following an existing state-owned right of way, the extension would become a two-lane city-style street west of Bustleton Avenue through to Philmont Avenue.
The civic leader claims that her group’s plan reflects an earlier proposal offered to PennDOT when it acquired the right-of-way in the 1970s.
Hazell argued that Somerton has always gotten the short end of the stick on the Woodhaven Road issue.
First, more than 30 families lost their homes as PennDOT established the right of way. Then, when the state opened Evans Street as a westbound outlet and eastbound inlet for the existing expressway, Somerton’s two-lane Byberry Road became a major intercounty traffic artery.
The civic leader doesn’t want more local residents or business owners to lose their properties.
“Do not under any circumstances demolish or relocate any businesses or homes,” she said. “Philadelphia has lost enough tax rateables by all of this bungling. Go back to the original plans, and we will support you.”
Jim Weldon, leader of the Citizens Alliance of Westwood, is one of the many who feel that Hazell’s “original plans” simply won’t work.
Citing traffic projections outlined by PennDOT in the draft EIS, Weldon doesn’t think the surrounding streets, if left as they are, would be able to handle additional vehicles brought on by an expressway extension.
He thinks the emphasis should be on improving intersections with turning lanes and better traffic signal technology.
“(With the Somerton Civic plan) you’ll be taking the bulk of the traffic and shoving it into the community and saying, ‘We’re not upgrading anything else,’” Weldon told a reporter outside of the Lower Moreland session.
Truck traffic would be particularly troublesome with the grading of the proposed extension at 3-1/2 percent or more. Trucks make a lot more noise when they’re climbing and descending than when they’re on a flat surface, he explained.
“It would be a heck of a lot easier to upgrade all of the intersections first. Create a more effective traffic handling system, and wait and see if it works. At least if you build (the extension) then, you know the intersections are already built,” Weldon said.
The Westwood group, generally comprised of residents living west of Bustleton Avenue and south of Byberry Road, continues to favor the “Route 1 Proposal” put forth by an anti-extension umbrella group, the Tri-County Coalition.
That plan includes intersection upgrades throughout the project area and the closing of existing Woodhaven Road west of Route 1.
Residents weren’t the only ones to go on record last week.
On June 24, U.S. Rep. Joe Hoeffel (D-13th dist.) sent a letter to Warren (the PennDOT administrator) urging the adoption of a two-phase plan originally suggested by Leo Bagley, Montgomery County’s chief transportation planner, earlier this month.
Essentially, that proposal calls for the construction of the Woodhaven Extension, as endorsed by the Somerton Civic Association, and intersection improvements in an initial phase.
If traffic problems don’t subside, the second phase would take effect in which other area roads would be widened. Phase Two would likely result in some residential and commercial property acquisitions by the state.
“As you are well aware, eighty percent of the funding for this project will come from the federal government,” wrote Hoeffel, who sits on the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee.
“I will work to secure the funding needed to complete stage one but will not seek additional funding for stage two unless the elements of that stage are proven to be necessary after the construction of stage one.”
State and city officials have also signed onto the Bagley plan, including state Sen. Mike Stack (D-5th dist.), state Rep. George Kenney (R-170th dist.) and City Councilman Brian O’Neill (R-10th dist.). Also, the City Planning Commission has endorsed it.
“I believe (Woodhaven) Road should be extended in a way that is most helpful and least harmful to the citizens of this region,” Stack said. “It should be completed in a way that displaces as few people as possible and dramatically improves our area.
“(The project) is about following through on a nearly fifty-year-old promise to improve traffic flow, reduce severe congestion and create a better quality of life for all residents in all of the affected communities.” ••
Reporter William Kenny can be reached at 215-354-3031 or bkenny@phillynews.com