We continue to coordinate with the municipalities with regards to the design, and we will continue to do so through the environmental assessment process. At this time, the current build alternative as shown is the main build alternative being carried through the environmental assessment document. And that’s the way the process works and in this case it’s either build or no build.
At the time in 2013, everyone received notification of the public meeting at the time. Additionally, there will be opportunities during the hearing for people to provide their input. There is still an opportunity such as we have here for people to provide public comment and reach out through the public comment forms and provide their input at this time. We continue to work with the municipalities; Middletown Township, Langhorne Manor and Langhorne Boroughs.
Middletown Township and Langhorne Manor have indicated to us their support of the project as it is currently designed, but we will continue to coordinate with all the municipalities as we move through the environmental assessment process.
That was just re-establishing the connection of North Street, so it does not end in a cul-de-sac or a dead end. With the removal of the service road down below North Street, adjacent to Route 1, that is just an extension of North Street to connect it to Hulmeville Road and maintain that connectivity from Myrtle Avenue to Hulmeville Road.
This goes back to the purpose and need, we are not attempting to alleviate traffic on Route 1. The goal is to facilitate safe and efficient travel on Route 1 along with system continuity. We are not directly diverting traffic from Route 1 onto any of the side roads according to our studies.
In a residential area construction is usually done during the daytime hours unless there is a specific reason, like if they would have to affect traffic overnight along Route 1 itself. The assumption is that the majority of the work will be done during daytime business hours.
The service roads fall under the jurisdiction of the appropriate municipality. Maintenance of the service roads are and will be the responsibility of the municipality. Cost for maintenance is borne by the municipality.
Again, we were talking specifically about the Level of Service based on the questions regarding the perceived increase of traffic along 413. The purpose of this project is to address safety on US 1. The levels of service discussions were ancillary based on the redistribution of traffic to two new interchanges.
We do not currently have the standalone cost out broken out for the noise walls because we are still in the study phase. Sound barrier costs vary by project depending on many aspects, so a clear answer is not available. Any of the costs associated with the sound walls are borne by the project’s sponsors, for example FHWA and PennDOT, not by property owners. It’s not necessarily the traffic increase that warrants the analysis, it’s the movement of traffic, the redistribution of traffic that triggers the analysis and then it’s strictly decibels if it’s over the 66 decibel threshold for residential or there’s the increased component if there is an increase of so many decibels then it triggers.
There’s also a function of the traffic volumes, the composition of the traffic, cars versus trucks, which can have an increase in the volume, as well as, the proposed distance from the noise sensitive receptor. At this time it’s difficult to identify specific volume increases that would generate traffic noise impacts.
Typically only properties directly affected by construction activities, whether it be permanent impacts to the property or temporary impacts to the property, are compensated as part of the right-of-way acquisition process. PennDOT does not compensate for indirect impacts to properties away from the project.
The public hearing that will accompany the advertisement and public review of the environmental assessment document is anticipated for either the end of 2025 or early 2026 depending on the final completion of the EA document and its eventual posting for review. We anticipate that to be a hybrid style meeting with an in-person component.
In our discussion with Our Lady of Grace Cemetery, they laid out what their typical procession is. which comes down from Gillam or Old Lincoln Highway down Hulmeville Road, down the existing service road to the front entrance on the US 1 side. That’s direct feedback that we had with them with the connection that they requested, coming from Gilliam or Old Lincoln Highway to Hulmeville Road, then onto the existing service road to the entrance of the cemetery.
