Click Here For More Information

LOCAL TECHNICAL

ASSISTANCE PROGRAM

December 12, 2023

When: 8:30AM

Where: Lehigh Valley
Planning Commission

Click here for more information

December 20, 2023

When: 11AM

Where: Lehigh Valley
Planning Commission

November 29, 2023

7PM

The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) is funding a study to determine what it would take to bring passenger rail travel back to the Lehigh Valley.

PennDOT Deputy Secretary Jennie A. Louwerse Wednesday, during a meeting of the Lehigh Valley Transportation Study, announced a comprehensive study to determine the costs, ridership potential and ongoing expenses that would come from creating a passenger rail connection that would help riders travel beyond the Lehigh Valley region.

The announcement comes as the $1.2 trillion federal Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) allocates $66 billion into improving and enhancing passenger rail service nationwide.

“The great thing about the Infrastructure Law is that it allows us to take a look at what it takes to reinstate [passenger rail] service,” Louwerse said to the LVTS. “I believe this study will provide a solid foundation for the Lehigh Valley to know what do we need to do to make this happen.”

Every four years the Lehigh Valley Transportation Study is required by federal statute to review long-range transportation policy and investments. In 2023, the transportation planning embedded in FutureLV: The Regional Plan will be assessed and revised to meet this requirement. This process will evaluate priorities of the current 25-year transportation plan with an enhanced focus on advancing equitable communities, transportation safety and infrastructure resiliency measures included in the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, enacted by Congress and signed into law on November 15, 2021. The intent of the transportation update of FutureLV: The Regional Plan is to evolve and advance a forward-thinking strategy that leads to the Lehigh Valley into the future while addressing the needs of today.

The Eastern Pennsylvania Freight Alliance is a multi-regional coalition created to write a new freight infrastructure plan for the Lehigh Valley, Northeast Pennsylvania, Lackawanna-Luzerne, Berks County and Lebanon County areas. Encompassing 10 counties and 400 municipalities, the Alliance issued a request for proposals and selected a consultant to begin the planning process in 2022. The Freight Infrastructure Plan will analyze the transportation network and land use among other factors to develop a strategy to better manage freight mobility in Eastern Pennsylvania. The plan is anticipated to be complete in late 2023-2024.

There is always strength in numbers, and the LVPC is here to assist any municipality that’s chosen to work with its neighbors. Through multi-municipal comprehensive plans, communities can address common priorities, while maintaining local autonomy and control. That can mean sharing costs for goods and services or partnering on issues that cross municipal borders, such as roads or economic development. Perhaps the biggest benefit is the ability to collectively manage development.

The LVPC completed the Southwest Lehigh County Multi-Municipal Comprehensive Plan in 2016 and is currently working on three additional efforts that include ten communities in the Nazareth area, six communities in the Northern Lehigh area and ten communities in a first-time effort Slate Belt Multi-Municipal Comprehensive Plan. Another five communities in the River Central area kicked off a first-time planning effort in 2020 as well. Whether preserving agriculture and open space or fostering downtown redevelopment, we’re honored to help more Lehigh Valley communities prepare for a balanced, successful future.