SANATOGA PA – Representatives of Lower Pottsgrove and Limerick (PA) townships are continuing to talk informally, and met as recently as late last month (December 2010), to discuss planning and other issues surrounding the Sanatoga interchange of U.S. Route 422, a local couple learned Thursday (Jan. 20, 2011) from the Lower Pottsgrove Board of Commissioners.
Traffic on U.S. Route 422, near South Park Road, as seen during May 2010.
Bill and Aimee Marie Herbert of South Park Road, Pottstown, were attending their first commissioners’ meeting since moving into Lower Pottsgrove several months ago, they said, and asked about progress at the interchange. There’s been some, township Assistant Manager Alyson Elliott told them, and added she expects there will be more in coming months.
“We’re still working on a lot of issues,” Elliott said. “It’s certainly slowed down” as a result of the economy, she said, “but we’ve still got a lot of meetings to go. You’ll probably see more happen later this year.”
The townships jointly signed cooperative planning agreements during May 2009 in an effort to coordinate land development and use, zoning, landscaping, traffic patterns and other controls likely to affect the hundreds of acres of vacant land circling the interchange. The area including its busy on- and off-ramps is divided by the townships’ common border.
Similar attempts at cooperation failed in the past, and even created some animosity. Changes in both municipal leadership and attitudes, however, earned the townships an honor last October (2010), as the TriCounty Area Chamber of Commerce recognized Lower Pottsgrove and Limerick with its annual award for regional planning.
Currently, Elliott noted, much of their work consists of research and documentation. Officials in both townships are still compiling facts and figures that probably will find a home in future grant requests, appeals to congressmen and senators, and promotional materials.
Both are relying on a common consultant, Simone Collins of Norristown PA, for interchange planning and mapping. Both also have hired the Montgomery County Economic Development Corp. to help market interchange properties.
Open space on the south side of 422, stretching from South Park Road east to Evergreen Road and beyond, may someday become one of Lower Pottsgrove’s more highly developed areas, commissioners’ President Jonathan Spadt acknowledged in talking with the Herberts. “There probably will be a lot of growing pains for you,” Spadt admitted.
Related (to the Lower Pottsgrove Board of Commissioners’ meeting of Jan. 20):
- Townships Make Progress, Albeit Slow, In 422 Plans
- Lower Pottsgrove, Lamar Negotiating Over Sign Request
- Township Approves 12-Year Comcast Franchise Deal
- Potential Conflict Causes Township Solicitor To Opt Out
- All Signs Point To More Township Signage Talk Tonight
One element of this planning that is important to consider is a buffer zone for the Sanatoga Lake Park area, the ball fields, playgrounds and open spaces and woods. Any planning should integrate these areas neatly without further disturbance or removal of the wooded environment so vital to the essence of the park.