SANATOGA PA – Five busy intersections in Lower Pottsgrove (PA) Township are scheduled to be among 49 in the greater Pottstown area to receive a package of improvements that includes traffic signal upgrades and handicapped-accessible curb ramp installations. Construction could get under way in early 2012, the township Board of Commissioners learned this week.

One example of an ADA-compliant curb ramp, like those to be installed in Lower Pottsgrove

The work is part of what is being called the “Pottstown Area Signal Project,” according to Scott Exley, president of Bursich Associates in Sanatoga, the township engineering firm. It would occur at the corners of High Street and North Pleasant View Road, High and Heritage Drive, High and Sunnybrook Road, High and Armand Hammer Boulevard, and Armand Hammer and Industrial Highway.

An engineer under contract to the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) in a memo said the construction would require some street and sidewalk excavation, and in limited areas placement of 17-foot-deep foundations for signage masts. Curblines and sidewalks also would be dug up to install updated ramps that comply with specifications of the Americans With Disabilities Act.

That work alone may take 18 months.

The entire project, however, is much broader in scope, Exley told board members during their meeting Monday (Aug. 1). It also includes significant modifications at and around the South Hanover Street bridge near Industrial Highway in the borough of Pottstown, as well as along River Road in North Coventry (PA) Township.

On Armand Hammer Boulevard, he added, the work will be coordinated with renovations to bridges on U.S. Route 422 near its Armand Hammer exit, as well as what is foreseen as the rebuilding of the interchange there, also slated to begin next year.

PennDOT’s plans for the 422 and South Hanover Street bridges have apparently caused Pottstown to reconsider its desire to re-open the now closed Keim Street bridge crossing the Schuylkill River, between Kenilworth and the borough, The (Pottstown) Mercury newspaper reported Thursday (Aug. 4).

Borough Manager Jason Bobst on Wednesday reportedly advocated that a small portion of the millions of dollars that could be spent on the Keim Street bridge instead be paid to lengthen Keystone Boulevard, along industrial sites near Riverfront Park, to connect with streets in West Pottsgrove. That would make vacant properties more available for development, Bobst said.

Related (to the Lower Pottsgrove Board of Commissioners’ meeting of Aug. 1):

• Five Township Corners Due For Curb, Signal Changes
• Sanatoga, Ringing Hill Busy With Volunteer Training
• Next Move On Keim Street Bridge Possible Next Week
• Several Report Interest In Township Planning Vacancy
• Army Band May Return, Thanks To Impressive Crowd
• Whack Away At Unsightly Weeds, Township Pleads
• July Tax Payments Trickle In At A Rate Of $528 Per Day
• Tax Settlements: An Awful Lot Of Paperwork To Net $677
• Lower Pottsgrove’s June 2011 Warrants Now Online
• Bridge, Guardrail Study Proposed For Pruss Hill Road
• Township 2009 Sex Offender Law ‘Might Not Stand Up’
• Commissioners OK KenCrest ‘Temporary’ Grenhouse
• Commissioners Gather For First August Meeting