By Julian Walker
Times Staff Writer
There’s a battle being waged in Somerton.
At the heart of the conflict is the controversial Woodhaven Road Extension project.
For almost as long as anyone can remember, the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation and various elected and community leaders have debated the best fix to bottleneck traffic conditions on the expressway that stretches from the Delaware River west to Somerton.
The thoroughfare, which is part of state Route 63, ends at Evans Street west of Roosevelt Boulevard.
PennDOT plans call for the roadway to extend to Philmont Avenue in Montgomery County. That project entails reconfigured intersections in some heavily trafficked areas surrounding the expressway.
The Somerton Civic Association has been a strong supporter of the plan for many years.
But residents organized in pockets of that neighborhood — the tiny hamlet south of Byberry Road and west of Bustleton Avenue known as Westwood and the 158-home Timberwalk development in the southern end behind George Washington High School — are diametrically opposed to the extension plan as currently configured.
Those communities are part of the Tri-County Coalition, an ad-hoc group composed of citizens of Northeast Philadelphia and Bucks and Montgomery counties who opposed the current plan to extend Woodhaven. The group wants the Woodhaven expressway to end at Roosevelt Boulevard.
Joining Somerton in its support of the extension are Far Northeast civic groups that represent the communities of Normandy and Parkwood.
At last week’s monthly meeting, several members of the Timberwalk Homeowners Association implied that Somerton Civic leaders subverted parliamentary procedure to achieve their own ends.
Referring to longtime SCA president Mary Jane Hazell, Timberwalk treasurer Bob Gress said: “She claims she represents all of Somerton, but she doesn’t. She only represents the people who come to the meetings. I don’t come to all the meetings, but I am a dues-paying member of Somerton Civic, and I’m very upset that they didn’t send me a notice of the vote.
“If you’re going to have a vote as important as that vote was, you should hold a separate meeting,” he added.
Some at the March 10 Timberwalk session, including Gress, said they attended the SCA meeting one night earlier.
Those folks complained that only certain neighborhood residents — apparently those on Worthington and Byberry roads and Trina Drive — received written notice that the Woodhaven Extension would be discussed at last week’s meeting.
The position of Mary Jane Hazell is that the group long ago had voted in favor of the extension, and that stance hadn’t changed, so another vote was unnecessary.
Despite that, a clamor arose at the March 9 Somerton meeting to call another vote. The results were overwhelmingly in favor of the extension (107-14).
As to the disputed fliers that were circulated on select streets, Hazell said, “fliers were sent out to people on those streets who aren’t (civic) members because (their homes) are directly involved and they really should have input.”
Hazell also expressed mystification at the opposition of Timberwalk because their major concern, the proposed extension of Northeast Avenue to connect with Woodhaven, was scrapped by PennDOT.
“They are out of the loop completely, so why are they worried about what happens on Byberry Road?” she added, noting that the project “isn’t going to affect them in any way, shape or form.”
Timberwalk vice president Ernie Tartaglia said the group’s concern is not limited in scope to one street but the overall impact the construction would have on the Far Northeast.
“This is the first state project that the secretary of Transportation is personally involved in because we made such a stink, so your voices make a difference,” he explained, noting that the exclusion of Northeast Avenue from the final plan proves that influence.
Within the last month, PennDOT officials have met with local politicians, Tri-County coalition representatives and leaders of civic groups in Somerton, Normandy and Parkwood to discuss the newest modifications to the plan.
All three sessions were closed-door.
A public hearing at which PennDOT will present the updated expansion plan is scheduled for Tuesday at 6 p.m. in the George Washington High School auditorium, 11000 Bustleton Ave.
In other association news:
Timberwalk residents have scheduled a cleanup along Northeast Avenue for this Saturday from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Volunteers are welcome. ••
Visit www.timberwalk.com for information on the Timberwalk Homeowners Association.
Reporter Julian Walker can be reached at 215-354-3038 or jwalker@phillynews.com