NEWS

$89 MILLION DONE, $475 MILLION TO GO

It’s been a productive two years for Lehigh Valley road construction crews who have completed more than $89 million worth of road, bridge and transit projects, while continuing another more than quarter-billion dollars in new projects along some of the region’s busiest roadways.

Done are major projects that include the $30.4 million rehabilitation of the Fahy Bridge, the $5 million replacement of the Lynn Avenue Bridge and the $6.4 million resurfacing of Center Street – all in Bethlehem -- and the $7 million job to replace the Cedar Crest Boulevard Bridge over the Little Cedar Creek in Allentown.

Bigger projects that remain underway include $101 million for the Lehigh River Bridge along Route 22, the $40 million replacement of the Coplay/Northampton Bridge and the $31 million rehabilitation of the Tilghman Street Bridge in Allentown. While the Lehigh River Bridge is expected to be completed this fall, the Coplay/Northampton Bridge is scheduled for completion in 2020 and Tilghman Street is expected to be done in 2021.

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$20,000 GRANT FOR FIRST HEALTH MEETS TRANSPORTATION PROJECT

The Lehigh Valley Planning Commission is embarking on a project that will use transportation design to improve public health.

With help from a $20,000 grant from the state-funded WalkWorks Program, LVPC will identify locations across the region where there are pedestrian, bicycle and transit injuries or deaths, and areas with negative health issues, such as obesity and diabetes.

Then it will suggest design changes aimed at improving health and saving lives.

It’s the first such project in the region that seeks to use data linking health and transportation as a tool to create a safer and healthier environment.

“This gives us a chance to make a real difference in locations and neighborhoods with negative health outcomes,” said LVPC Executive Director Becky Bradley. “It’s a way of targeting resources where they can have the most impact. We’re very excited about our increased commitment to active transportation in the Lehigh Valley.”

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A NEW CLASS OF CITIZEN PLANNERS

More than 70 public officials, professional planners and private citizens gathered this fall on a shared mission to learn more about how their community is run.

All of them came to take classes at the Lehigh Valley Government Academy (LVGA), but a select few were recognized as Certified Citizen Planners during the January Lehigh Valley Planning Commission (LVPC) meeting for completing more than 30 hours of LVGA courses.

LVGA courses are tailored to train local planning commissioners, zoning administrators, zoning hearing board members, elected officials and anyone with an interest in planning about their roles, responsibilities and rights.

“We’d like to recognize the efforts of our Lehigh Valley Government academy graduates,” LVPC Chairman Stephen Repasch said during the January 31 Commission meeting. “These folks have put in a lot of hours and gone above and beyond the call.”

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OUR AGING INTERSTATES

Pennsylvania’s more than 2,700 miles of interstate highways snake into every corner of the state, carrying 1.8 million commuters a day and making the Commonwealth one of the busiest corridors for all those consumer goods people are buying from their phones this Christmas.

With the fourth-largest interstate system in the country, including the 63 miles in the Lehigh Valley, Pennsylvania has long been the envy of other states, but now its interstates are deteriorating faster than they can be repaired, Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) Highway Delivery Division Chief Melissa J. Batula said during a report to the Lehigh Valley Transportation Study (LVTS) and Freight Advisory Committee earlier this month.

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MEETINGS + TRAINING