Traffic crosses the East High Street bridge.

SANATOGA PA – The distance from the office of retirement housing developer “Wil” Hallman to Cutillo’s Restaurant on East High Street is about two-tenths of a mile. It would be an easy walk from his desk to dinner if the builder were so inclined, but he’s not. The busy highway is too dangerous, he claims; “if I’m going to Cutillo’s,” Hallman says, “I take a car.”

So it distresses Hallman that the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) seems willing, later this year, to close and reconstruct the crumbling East High Street bridge across Sanatoga Creek without including a walkway for pedestrians. He can’t believe the Lower Pottsgrove (PA) Township Board of Commissioners would allow that to happen.

As it turns out, until Hallman brought the walkway issue to commissioners’ attention last week (Monday, June 4, 2009) during their regular meeting, they hadn’t known about it. Commission President Bruce Foltz said PennDOT has not shared its final bridge plans with the township, but he pledged the board would “approach the state” and discuss the walkway need.

The red circle on this map of a portion of the Sanatoga Interchange District shows the location of the East High Street bridge across Sanatoga Creek, between Sanatoga Road and Allison Drive.

In a convergence of circumstances, there could be even more talk about pedestrian travel across the bridge – or impediments to it – at 2 this afternoon (Tuesday, May 12, 2009). That’s when the board has called a special meeting to hear presentations from consultants regarding the township’s Sanatoga Interchange District.

The district comprises Lower Pottsgrove’s overarching plan for development in and around the Sanatoga interchange of U.S. Route 422. Already years in the making, the district might soon be enhanced by including input from neighboring Limerick (PA) Township to the east. Commissioners hope the two municipalities can cooperate on zoning and property use issues surrounding the highway exit.

Hotels, retail shopping, restaurants, apartments, age-restricted housing … developers envision many profitable future uses for parcels near the interchange. To make it all easy and healthy for consumers to reach, township plans include a continuous sidewalk along East High Street from roughly Rupert Road, at the start of the interchange, west to Sunnybrook Road.

A big, busily traveled bridge without a walkway, interrupting a portion of that two-mile stretch, imperils both those plans and the public, Hallman contends. “It’s not a matter of if, but when, someone gets hit” by traffic there, he warned commissioners.

PennDOT is negotiating with him for the use of property north of the bridge, near his Sanatoga Ridge Community development, as a construction staging area. Hallman, who has a background in engineering, got a look at the state’s drawings for the bridge earlier this month. That’s when he said he noticed a pedestrian path was missing.

In fact, there’s been no walkway on the bridge for several years. During the last bridge closure, at that time hailed only as an interim fix, the walkway was “temporarily” eliminated, board members and Hallman acknowledged. It was their understanding, they said, that a pedestrian path would be returned when the bridge was fully re-built.

PennDOT expects to close the bridge and begin its rebuilding work sometime this year, possibly as soon as June or as late as August. Commissioners have decried the closing for months, alleging it would hurt township businesses, create public safety problems and inconvenience motorists. They’ve written letters, made calls, even enlisted state legislators’ help to plead their case, all to no avail.

Now, as they attempt to convince Limerick that working with Lower Pottsgrove on the interchange would be a good thing for both townships, commissioners can add “missing sidewalks” to their growing list of bridge complaints to be taken up with the state highway agency.

Related (to the East High Street bridge):

• Will Road Be Closed When School Re-Opens?
• State Says No To Keeping Bridge Open
• Township Looks To Pols For Bridge Help
• Bridge Closing Threatens Businesses, Board Says
• Sanatoga Bridge Closing This Spring
• Bridge Repairs Next Year

Related (to Sanatoga interchange development):

• Trying, Trying Again At The Interchange
• Just One Speaker At Sanatoga Springs Hearing
• The Overlooked Users Of Sanatoga Springs
• County Suggests Cooperation On Sanatoga Springs
• Improving The Odds At The Interchange
• More About … Sanatoga Springs (No. 1 In A Series)
• Trial Balloon: An Inter-Municipal Agreement
• Lobbyists Court Lower Pottsgrove
• A New Arrival In “Sanatoga Springs”

Related (to the Lower Pottsgrove Board of Commissioners’ May 4 meeting):

• Township Police Study 3-Way Stop
• Trying, Trying Again At The Interchange
• Sex Offender Residency Limits Approved
• Will Road Be Closed When School Re-Opens?

District map image from Lower Pottsgrove Township

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