Woodhaven Road extension
gets a new look

By William Kenny
Times Staff Writer

The last time the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation introduced new plans for completing the long-delayed 50-year-old Woodhaven Road project, the state agency tried to look at the big picture.
But many folks squawked at the idea of a new highway, fearing it would only attract additional traffic to an already overburdened local road system.
In response, PennDOT in the coming weeks will debut what it’s calling a scaled-down version of the Woodhaven extension. The new plans call for a shorter, narrower and more community-friendly thoroughfare to be built along the state-owned right-of-way that has long been reserved for a new road.
The first of five scheduled community presentations and "workshops" is scheduled for Thursday, Feb. 28, at MaST Community Charter School, 1800 E. Byberry Road, from 4 to 6 p.m. Additional sessions will be on Tuesday, March 4 and Thursday, March 6, at the Ephraim Goldstein Senior Center, 12003 Bustleton Ave., from 6 to 8 p.m.; and Tuesday, March 11 and Thursday, March 13, at St. Andrew’s in the Field Episcopal Church, 500 Somerton Ave., from 6 to 8 p.m.
Whereas designers attempted to tackle regional traffic issues in earlier plans, the new design is meant to alleviate local traffic problems in Somerton, primarily those in the Byberry Road corridor stemming largely from the abrupt termination of the existing Woodhaven Expressway at Evans Street, according to project manager Peter Berthold.
"We brought the project way down (in size)," Berthold said. "Right now, it’s a two-lane road along the PennDOT right of way."
The road will extend west from the existing Woodhaven Road, roughly parallel with Byberry Road. It will span one set of CSX railroad tracks, cross Bustleton Avenue and end at Audubon Avenue. It will connect with cross streets and be contained entirely within Philadelphia.
The estimated cost of the project is around $30 million, compared to about $130 million for prior versions. Federal tax dollars would fund 80 percent of it, with the rest coming from state coffers.
The five upcoming workshops will lead to the compilation of a "supplementary draft environmental impact study" and formal public hearing in 2009, Berthold said. PennDOT hopes to begin construction in spring 2012 and complete the project in 2014.
The first portion of each meeting will feature a presentation of the new plan by project officials. Then participants will be organized into smaller workgroups to exchange thoughts about and suggestions for the proposal.
PennDOT sent out invitations for the meetings to folks in areas directly impacted by the proposed construction. The MaST meeting is intended for businesses west of Roosevelt Boulevard and east of the CSX railroad. The Goldstein sessions are intended for folks living west of the railroad and east of Bustleton Avenue. Those living west of Bustleton Avenue are expected to attend the St. Andrew’s sessions.
Invitations are not required for people to attend, however.
"If people come to the door, they won’t be turned away," Berthold said.
However, if crowds become too large for the venues, the state agency has plans to allow people inside in stages.
The meetings will be the first on the Woodhaven Road project since early 2006, when a so-called working committee of community representatives broke down without reaching a consensus.
The committee consisted of members of the Somerton Civic Association, which supports construction, and the Tri-County Coalition, a group representing folks in Montgomery and Bucks counties, as well as the Westwood section of Somerton, who oppose the Woodhaven extension.
Tri-County leaders claim that new construction won’t help the traffic problem and will only attract more vehicles. Also, they argue that the road will bring truck traffic through Westwood and lead it to the doorstep of suburban communities like Lower Moreland Township.
Tri-County members propose cutting off the existing Woodhaven Expressway outlet at Evans Street and forcing all vehicles to exit the highway at Roosevelt Boulevard. They theorize that through traffic would then flow south to Red Lion Road or north to Street Road.
Somerton Civic leaders disagree, claiming that vehicles would still flood Byberry Road, Southampton Road and other neighborhood streets in search of east-west routes. Conversely, they believe that a new road would alleviate daily traffic jams on Byberry Road caused by through traffic.
Like Tri-County, Somerton Civic opposes truck traffic on local streets. And though part of PennDOT’s plan is to replace a temporary low-tonnage bridge on Byberry Road spanning the railroad, SCA leaders have insisted that trucks be prohibited from using the new bridge.
With the new plan, Berthold said, PennDOT hopes to reduce traffic congestion, improve its distribution, replace the bridge and improve safety within the corridor.
"What this new alternative really does is alleviate traffic on Byberry Road," the project manager said. "(The old plan) was more to get traffic from one end (of Somerton) to the other." ••
Reporter William Kenny can be reached at 215-354-3031 or bkenny@phillynews.com