The Sanatoga Post

POTTSTOWN PA – Lower Pottsgrove Elementary School just got labeled, and that, according to district spokeswoman Beth Trapani, is an energizing event.

The Pottsgrove School District building for 700 students in kindergarten through 5th grade, at 1329 Buchert Rd., Pottstown PA, is just one of 26 schools across Pennsylvania that have earned an Energy Star building label from the U.S. Department of Energy, Trapani reported Tuesday (Oct. 5, 2010). The recognition is awarded for buildings that demonstrate superior energy efficiency, she said.

As the district’s newest school building, Lower Pottsgrove “had access to more energy efficient technology and systems, and could more quickly achieve the savings needed to earn the Energy Star designation,” according to Trapani. The district, which enrolled in the Energy Star program last year, is working to get similar energy savings from its older buildings too.

Heading up he effort is district Director of Facilities and Physical Plants Michael Katzenmoyer.

He says Pottsgrove hopes to reduce its total energy costs by more than 20 percent by June 2012, which would qualify it as an Energy Star leader among public educational institutions. That designation is based on a rating system that looks at how well schools use and conserve energy. So far, according to Katzenmoyer, the district has saved more than $200,000 in energy costs, mostly by adjusting heat and lighting systems.

When it enrolled in Energy Star, the district first looked at how it used heating, air conditioning and ventilation systems, and adjusted their operations to occupied and unoccupied times during a school day. “No one had analyzed those systems for years to see if adjusting the times made sense,” Katzenmoyer said. Now, he noted, classroom temperature controls kick in at 8:30 a.m., rather than 6 a.m., saving 2-1/2 hours of power per unit daily.

The district has also been retrofitting lights; changing them to more energy-efficient systems. It also is training maintenance and custodial staff on its energy reduction policies. Pottsgrove even instituted a new energy management policies that govern, recycling plastic and glass, and conserving water.

Sign up to get The Sanatoga Post delivered free daily by e-mail. Share this article.
See our galleries for photos that appear in The Post. Got news for us? E-mail The Post.
Find The Posts on Twitter, Facebook, Linked-In, Technorati, Flickr, YouTube, and RSS

SANATOGA PA – Authors of a study that may suggest tolling drivers on U.S. Route 422, and using that money to improve the highway and reduce its congestion, “are not making their case well enough in the court of public opinion,” says a former journalist who now serves on the Spring City PA borough council. He thinks local municipalities should do more to promote the plan.

In a letter reviewed Monday (Oct. 4, 2010), former newspaper reporter Michael Hays asked the Lower Pottsgrove (PA) Township Board of Commissioners to consider “being a proponent and active advocate of the benefits of this ‘user tax/fee’ or toll.” Commissioners accepted Hays’ letter under advisement and said they could give it further consideration, but did not comment or act on it.

One reason: only three of five board members – James Phillips, who acted as temporary chairman, Michael McGroarty and James Kaiser – were present at Monday’s meeting, the first of two scheduled for October. Both President Jonathan Spadt and Vice President Bruce Foltz were absent, and “the board probably should hear from everyone on this before commenting,” township Manager Rodney Hawthorne noted.

Commissioners have not yet taken a public stand on acceptance of land use principles and strategies contained in a Route 422 master plan being circulated by the Montgomery County Planning Commission, or on the value of the proposal to institute tolls, which officially is still being investigated.

Hays, who once reported for The (Pottstown PA) Mercury newspaper and then worked with the hyper-local online news resource called “What’s The 422?,” left journalism last year when he was elected to the Spring City council. His Sept. 22 letter to Lower Pottsgrove‘s elected officials, he wrote, was offered “in an individual capacity” and not as a member of any other group or of the council.

“I ask you to consider joining with other officials along the (25-mile-long Route 422) corridor in a unique advocacy role,” Hays wrote to the commissioners. Besides promoting tolling, he asked the board to “keep an open mind about this concept” and be willing to sign an online petition to express “support for tolls under specific conditions” which were not described but on which Hays promised details later.

“Tolls are without question politically tenuous at this time,” Hays acknowledged. “Many residents (and) taxpayers are angry about government spending.” Solving “this infrastructure problem will not be easy,” he wrote, “but if left undone, our future is certain: more gridlock and pollution.”

Hays’ letter was made public on the same day that Philadelphia radio station KYW-AM aired reports that quoted county Assistant Planning Director Leo Bagley as saying the study looking at financing for 422 improvements could be completed by year’s end. If tolling was proposed and accepted, Bagley told the station, electronically collected fees might be implemented within three to five years.

Related (to U.S. Route 422 Corridor planning):

• Former Reporter Asks Commissioners To Support 422 Tolls
• Online Survey Seeks Opinions On Local Road Congestion
• 422 Plus Project Plays Offense With FAQs Debut
• Peering Into The Future? Gov’s Bridge Proposal And 422
• Another Township Endorses 422 Master Plan
• Neighboring Limerick Supervisors Endorse 422 Master Plan
• Understand 422 Plan Endorsement, Lower Pottsgrove Advised
• Lower Pottsgrove Holds On 422 Plan Endorsement
• Engineers Claim PA Roads Worse Now Than In 2006
• Tuesday Session Tackles Funding For 422 And Elsewhere
• Tolls, Lower Pottsgrove Station Part Of 422 Plan
• Pending Decision May Affect Route 422 Projects
• Last Day For Your Say On Route 422 Plan
• Notebook Worthy (Aug. 24, 2009)
• Consultants Express Interest In Studying 422
• Don’t Like 422 Tolling? Website Wants Your Alternative
• Truckers Alerted On Highway Partnerships Bill
• In 422 Debate, Time A Hindrance And Help
• Notebook Worthy (June 29, 2009)
• Growth, Planners Say, Is 422’s Growing Problem
• Tech Used To Draw For 422 Meetings
• Route 422 Toll Meetings Next Week
• 422 Repairs, Delays Start Tuesday
• 422 Proposal, Like Traffic, Creeps Ahead
• Got A Route 422 Idea? Time To Air It
• Train Service On The Front Burner Once More

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

• Former Reporter Asks Commissioners To Support 422 Tolls
• Welcoming The Newest Of Lower Pottsgrove’s Finest
• Lower Pottsgrove Gives Gift Its Diesel Fuel Business
• Lower Pottsgrove Commissioners May Reward Bidders

Sign up to get The Sanatoga Post delivered free daily by e-mail. Share this article.
See our galleries for photos that appear in The Post. Got news for us? E-mail The Post.
Find The Posts on Twitter, Facebook, Linked-In, Technorati, Flickr, YouTube, and RSS

SANATOGA PA – Tracking the local expenditure of federal economic stimulus funds isn’t something that happens over a weekend, a week, or even a couple of months. The Sanatoga Post, which is a veteran member of the national ProPublica reporting network,  has been tracking stimulus grant spending and its effects for the past 15 months.

---

Did The White House Meet Its Stimulus Goal? The White House says it met its goal of spending 70 percent of the $787 billion stimulus package, but final numbers aren’t in and five agencies have spent less than a quarter of their funds. Click the text link above to read Saturday’s (Oct. 1, 2010) story from ProPublica.

---

The Post first began its coverage in July 2009, and is pleased to see other area media now helping to determine if the cost actually paid dividends. Below, in reverse chronological order (most recent at top), are more than 30 stimulus tracking stories we’ve already published:

• PennDOT Proclaims 422 Rehab Project Completed
• Engineers Claim PA Roads Worse Now Than In 2006
• 422 Concrete Patching Continues Through Today
• You May Want To Wait To Replace That Heater
• New State Budget Proposes Education Increase
• Future Of Transportation Goes Underground
• Without COLA, Dent Favors Payment
• Stimulus Spot Check: Summer Wave Of Projects Nears Crest
• Federal Stimulus in MontCo Worth $108 Per Person … So Far
• How Berks, Chester Counties Compare In Stimulus Spending
• 422 West Traffic Restrictions Start Monday
• Signs On Route 422 Mark Stimulus Funding
• Recovery Act Signs Cause A Stir
• Posts Join ProPublica Reporting Effort
• State Seeks Money For Storage Tanks
• Chamber Execs, Lawmakers Meet At Capitol
• Drive A Clunker? Trade It, Get A Credit
• Guide Rail Discussion Back On Track
• Secretary: Ed Fund Plan Not An Option
• Fairs Would Suffer Schools’ Plight
• 422 Repairs, Delays Start Tuesday
• Stimulus Lowers District Deficit, Not Taxes
• Township Seeks Police Force Grant
• Seniors Get Extra Payment
• Poll: Economic Trust In Government Wanes
• County Gets Energy Project Stimulus Cash
• Help Welcomed As Home Sales Keep Falling
• No TV Converter Box? No Problem
• Stimulus Can Be A Local Money Pump
• Dent Says Recovery Bill Needs Work
• Second Chance For A Tax Rebate

Sign up to get The Sanatoga Post delivered free daily by e-mail. Share this article.
See our galleries for photos that appear in The Post. Got news for us? E-mail The Post.
Find The Posts on Twitter, Facebook, Linked-In, Technorati, Flickr, YouTube, and RSS

POTTSTOWN PA – An online poll being used to measure public sentiment about highway traffic congestion in Montgomery County PA and across the Delaware Valley, and to gather opinions on funding sources to pay for relieving that congestion, is being conducted by the Harrisburg PA-based Lincoln Institute of Public Opinion Research, TriCounty Area Chamber of Commerce President Timothy Phelps announced Wednesday (Sept. 29, 2010).

Phelps, in a widely distributed e-mail, invited chamber members “as well as employees, family and friends” to take the web poll hosted at SurveyMonkey.com. It asks for anonymous answers to questions about which area highways are considered most or least congested, which highways are most or least important to area businesses, what improvements should be made to relieve congestion, and how they should be paid for.

• Take the online survey here.

The institute, described by Phelps as a non-profit educational foundation, is conducting the survey on behalf of the TriCounty, Montgomery County, and Philadelphia chambers of commerce, in cooperation with the Montgomery County Economic Development Corporation, the Greater Valley Forge Transportation Management Association, and the CEO Council For Growth.

“The survey is very short and your response is important,” Phelps wrote. “We encourage you to pass the survey link on to your associates,” he told e-mail recipients.

The chamber’s involvement stems from its interest in “regional transportation and road improvements issues, since they impact all aspects of our business development,” he added.

Related (to U.S. Route 422 Corridor planning):

• Online Survey Seeks Opinions On Local Road Congestion
• 422 Plus Project Plays Offense With FAQs Debut
• Peering Into The Future? Gov’s Bridge Proposal And 422
• Another Township Endorses 422 Master Plan
• Neighboring Limerick Supervisors Endorse 422 Master Plan
• Understand 422 Plan Endorsement, Lower Pottsgrove Advised
• Lower Pottsgrove Holds On 422 Plan Endorsement
• Engineers Claim PA Roads Worse Now Than In 2006
• Tuesday Session Tackles Funding For 422 And Elsewhere
• Tolls, Lower Pottsgrove Station Part Of 422 Plan
• Pending Decision May Affect Route 422 Projects
• Last Day For Your Say On Route 422 Plan
• Notebook Worthy (Aug. 24, 2009)
• Consultants Express Interest In Studying 422
• Don’t Like 422 Tolling? Website Wants Your Alternative
• Truckers Alerted On Highway Partnerships Bill
• In 422 Debate, Time A Hindrance And Help
• Notebook Worthy (June 29, 2009)
• Growth, Planners Say, Is 422’s Growing Problem
• Tech Used To Draw For 422 Meetings
• Route 422 Toll Meetings Next Week
• 422 Repairs, Delays Start Tuesday
• 422 Proposal, Like Traffic, Creeps Ahead
• Got A Route 422 Idea? Time To Air It
• Train Service On The Front Burner Once More

Sign up to get The Sanatoga Post delivered free daily by e-mail. Share this article.
See our galleries for photos that appear in The Post. Got news for us? E-mail The Post.
Find The Posts on Twitter, Facebook, Linked-In, Technorati, Flickr, YouTube, and RSS

POTTSTOWN PA – “Significant problems” with poor water drainage behind a retaining wall outside the cafeteria of the 11-year-old Pottsgrove Middle School, perched on a North Hanover Street ridge high above the Pottsgrove School District, will require the wall to be taken apart and rebuilt at a cost that’s “probably going to be painful,” the district Board of School Directors was told Tuesday (Sept. 28, 2010).

That assessment, offered by board treasurer and Facilities Committee Chairman Fred Remelius, follows committee discussions earlier in the night of a 20-page report, illustrated with color photographs, that documents the wall’s several structural failures and recommends fixes.

Ultimately, the report by a Lancaster PA engineering firm concludes, the retaining wall and its pilasters (columns) “have undergone significant water intrusion and subsequent deterioration.” There is no “feasible” way to dry the wall out and restore it, engineers noted, and it apparently is so far gone that it cannot be simply repaired and maintained.

District taxpayers likely will end up bearing the rebuilding cost, for which there was no immediately available estimate. “There’s no guarantee on a school building, and unfortunately these problems have surfaced more than 10 years down the road,” Remelius said.

The board took no action on the report. The wall’s structural problems seemingly pose no immediate danger to students occupying the building several feet behind it.

Problems with the retaining wall, which holds back earthen and other fill material in front of the school building, have been obvious for more than a year. The wall is buckling in some places, cracking in others, and is streaked with white efflorescence. The district hired structural engineers Baker, Ingram and Associates to review its condition during December (2009), and the firm returned in June (2010) for a more thorough inspection.

It determined that water over time has penetrated the wall, is even pooling behind it in some places, and has weakened its red-colored masonry veneer. Some of its steel components are rusting and flaking. Mortar joints are cracked, sealants are missing, and there are open joints around embedded railing posts topping the wall, the report said.

“The as-built construction of the retaining wall and pilaster is completely inadequate” to limit or release moisture or control water that gets into its components, according to the report. “There was probably a design defect to begin with,” Remelius acknowledged.

The report urges the district to address the problems soon. “If left unattended, these conditions will worsen and expand, resulting in more rapid deterioration, and the potential for partial collapse” of the veneer, the engineers warned.

Their report “does not address any other portion of the existing building structure,” they added.

Related (to the Pottsgrove Board of School Directors’ Sept. 28 meeting):

• Pottsgrove MS Retaining Wall Needs ‘Significant’ Repair
• Pottsgrove Considers ‘Impairing’ Teen Drivers, For Safety’s Sake
• Ringing Reimbursement On Pottsgrove School Agenda

Sign up to get The Sanatoga Post delivered free daily by e-mail. Share this article.
See our galleries for photos that appear in The Post. Got news for us? E-mail The Post.
Find The Posts on Twitter, Facebook, Linked-In, Technorati, Flickr, YouTube, and RSS

HARRISBURG PA – A state law that so far this year has robbed Lower Pottsgrove (PA) Township coffers of about $15,000 in unrealized income actually seems to be doing what it’s supposed to: reducing the number of complaints about home improvement contractors working in Pennsylvania.

Complaints to the state regarding unfinished or shoddy projects done by unscrupulous contractors “have dipped considerably” this year, thanks to the Home Improvement Consumer Protection Act passed in 2009, the Harrisburg Patriot-News newspaper reported Monday (Sept. 27, 2010).

The law requires all contractors doing $5,000 or more per year in home improvements to register with the state Attorney General’s office at a cost of $50 bi-annually. It also demands that contractors use written contracts and give customers information about their right to cancel a contract, projects’ start-dates and end-dates, total cost, scope of work and materials involved. It limits up-front payments,too.

The law’s results have been dramatic. “In 2009 there were 3,057 complaints about contractors,” Patriot-News reporter Matthew Kemeny wrote — “the highest in three years, state records showed. This year, there have only been 1,402 complaints to date, according to the data.”

With more than 71,000 people registered, Kemeny added, the state also has made about $3.5 million from the legislation.

On the other hand, it’s taken a toll on revenues in municipalities like Lower Pottsgrove, which for years operated a township-wide contractor registration system. Finance Director Michele Christman told the Board of Commissioners in July (2010) that the township, which earned $21,000 from registrations during 2009, by this mid-year had brought in only $5,100.

That’s one of several issues commissioners must resolve as they continue to work on assembling the township’s 2011 budget. The board’s budget committee meetings, which are open to the public, are next scheduled for Oct. 5 and 20, both at 4:30 p.m. in the municipal building, 2199 Buchert Rd., Pottstown PA.

In the Harrisburg area, contractors cited by Kemeny praised the law as an effective tool in weeding out shoddy contractors. Others said they view it as just another tax on small businesses.

“Violations of any of the requirements can trigger a civil lawsuit by the Attorney General’s office, with fines and penalties of up to $1,000 per violation (up to $3,000 for violations involving a senior citizen). The state has filed charges against 27 contractors since the law was put in place,” the newspaper reported.

Related:

• Is Lower Pottsgrove’s Loss The State Consumers’ Gain?
• Details Are In That Pesky Paperwork

Photo from Clipart.com

Sign up to get The Sanatoga Post delivered free daily by e-mail. Share this article.
See our galleries for photos that appear in The Post. Got news for us? E-mail The Post.
Find The Posts on Twitter, Facebook, Linked-In, Technorati, Flickr, YouTube, and RSS

KING OF PRUSSIA PA – A 7-hour fair intended to introduce PECO energy customers – which include many Lower Pottsgrove, Limerick and Pottstown PA area residents – to new and existing electric generation suppliers will be held Wednesday (Sept. 22, 2010) from 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. in the Radisson Valley Forge Hotel, 1160 First Ave., King of Prussia PA.

• This event has been added to The Post calendar.

The fair is free, open to the public, and is designed to familiarize consumers with their options in choosing electrical energy suppliers after Jan. 1 (2011) when utility deregulation takes effect in Pennsylvania. Visitors can meet supplier representatives, review their energy needs, and learn about competitive offers. Those attending may find it helpful to bring a copy of a recent utility bill for use during discussions with suppliers.

In addition, two presentations will be offered to explain the basics of electric choice. An explanation of “PECO Default Service Options” will be held at 8:30 a.m., followed at 9 a.m. by “Customer Experience Choosing A Competitive Supplier.”

Advance registration is not necessary but would be appreciated, PECO said. Registration can be for any one of three time frames: 7-9 a.m,9-11 a.m., or 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Registration can be entered online here.

Sign up to get The Sanatoga Post delivered free daily by e-mail. Share this article.
See our galleries for photos that appear in The Post. Got news for us? E-mail The Post.
Find The Posts on Twitter, Facebook, Linked-In, Technorati, Flickr, YouTube, and RSS

KING OF PRUSSIA PA – Mission accomplished, or at least one part of it.

The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) office in King of Prussia officially declared itself done Monday (Sept. 13, 2010) with 4-1/2 miles of U.S. Route 422 rehabilitation between its Route 29 (Collegeville-Phoenixville) and Royersford interchanges, paid for by $13.2 million in federal economic stimulus funding.

Route 422 carries 62,000 vehicles a day between the Collegeville and Royersford exits.  Construction crews worked since May 2009 to improve the deteriorated stretch of 422 by replacing aging and cracked concrete from the highway, and repaving the concrete pavement with a new asphalt surface.

Improvements also included resurfacing ramps at both interchanges; repairing 12 bridges; installing safety rumble strips; cleaning existing pipe culverts; and installing new guide rail, reflective pavement markers, and Intelligent Transportation System conduit.

The reconstructed portion of highway, built during the early 1970s, has four 12-foot wide travel lanes plus a 10-foot wide outside shoulder and an 8-foot wide inside shoulder. The project covered Route 422 from a half-mile east of Route 29 to 1,500 feet west of Royersford, across Upper Providence and Limerick townships.

Road-Con, Inc. of West Chester, Pa. was the general contractor.

The stimulus money was part of the multi-billion dollar American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA). Across the five-county Philadelphia region, PennDOT said it is investing $257.7 million of stimulus funds on 30 transportation projects, including road and bridge improvements, Intelligent Transportation System installations, traffic signal upgrades, multi-use trails, and curb ramp replacements. PennDOT has awarded all 30 transportation economic recovery projects in the region; 29 of those have moved to construction, and 13 have been completed.

Sign up to get The Sanatoga Post delivered free daily by e-mail. Share this article.
See our galleries for photos that appear in The Post. Got news for us? E-mail The Post.
Find The Posts on Twitter, Facebook, Linked-In, Technorati, Flickr, YouTube, and RSS

POTTSTOWN PA – Administrators, faculty members and students alike celebrated last Thursday afternoon (Sept. 9, 2010) as ground was officially broken for the renovation and expansion of the Pottsgrove School District’s Ringing Rocks Elementary School, 1401 Kauffman Rd., Pottstown PA. Contractors started some of the work almost two weeks ago, but tossing aside a silver-plated shovelful of dirt usually adds a final touch to the end of a long planning process.

Conducting earth-moving duties, above, on behalf of the district administration were, from left, Superintendent Dr. Bradley Landis, Business Administrator David Nester, Assistant Superintendent Shellie Feola, school board members Philip Keogh, Patricia Grimm, and David Faulkner, and Director of Facilities and Physical Plants Michael Katzenmoyer. A team of school pupils, below, led by Ringing Rocks Principal Michelle Bozzini, left, repeated the effort.

Then as Bozzini gave an interview to a local television crew, bottom right, a young student – shovel and hard hat in hand – made his way back to his classroom and the joy of learning. During the renovations, Ringing Rocks students and teachers are housed at the former St. Pius X High School building on North Keim Street, Pottstown. Three teachers there separately have confirmed the nickname staff members have given to their temporary quarters: they call it “Saint Rocks.”

Related (to Ringing Rocks Elementary School renovations):

• Digging’s Done, Now Real Work Starts At Ringing
• Ringing Rocks Ground-Breaking Set For Thursday
• After Month’s Work, Pius Deemed Set For Ringing Pupils
• Ringing Rocks Bids Accepted, At $1.5 Million Less
• Final Words On Ringing Rocks: Okey-Dokey
• Ringing Rocks Gets Final Plan OK
• Borrowing Authorized For Ringing Rocks Project
• Pottsgrove Signs Pius Lease For Ringing Students
• Pottsgrove Authorizes Pius Lease For Ringing Relocation
• Call Goes Out For Ringing Rocks Construction Bids
• Board OKs Ringing Rocks’ Preliminary Plans
• School Vestibule Design OK; No Decision On Rocks’ Relocation
• Ringing Rocks Plan Approval Held Until May
• Ringing Relocation Decision Deferred Again
• Township Legal Move Saves District Time, Money
• Economic Tales, Exec Sessions, And Long Night At Pottsgrove
• Geothermal Now ‘Locked’ Into Ringing Re-Build
• How Estimated Costs For Ringing Shape Up
• Less Is More In School Project, Planners Learn
• Bids Sought For Ringing Project Asbestos Removal
• Ringing Relocation Decision Possible In Two Weeks
• Restaurant, Ringing Projects Win Conditional Uses
• Ringing Rocks, Restaurant Hearing Topics Tonight
• Pottsgrove Student Enrollment: Up? Yes. Down? Yes Again
• Green Discussion At Ringing Results In Red Faces
• Pottsgrove, Archdiocese Still Discussing Pius Lease
• Ringing Rocks Relocation Discussion Set For Tonight
• In The Ringing Rebuild, Whither Pius?
• Ringing Rocks Relocation Plan: Modulars At MS
• Ringing Rocks Construction Cost Hearing Tonight
• Planners OK Ringing Rocks Land Sketch
• District Sets Dec. 3 Hearing On Rocks Budget
• Pottsgrove Asks State Help To Pay For Ringing Re-Build
• As School Opens, Progress On Ringing Rocks’ Project
• Surprise Enrollment Spurs Demographic Interest
• District Assembles Ringing Rocks Planning Team
• District OKs Architect Negotiations
• Consensus On Ringing Renovations: $16M
• Ringing Rocks Proposals Aired Tuesday
• Ringing Rocks Re-Examined April 14
• Pottsgrove To Trust-But-Verify On Ringing Plans
• Ringing Rocks Plans Take Another Step
• No Shortage Of Ideas At Pottsgrove Meeting
• Weigh In On Pottsgrove Renovations
• Framing The Rocks Discussion
• Response Mixed To Pottsgrove Improvements
• District Invites Public For Study Results
• A Different Rocks, But Only As A Concept

Photos by Beth Trapani for the Pottsgrove School District

Sign up to get The Sanatoga Post delivered free daily by e-mail. Share this article.
See our galleries for photos that appear in The Post. Got news for us? E-mail The Post.
Find The Posts on Twitter, Facebook, Linked-In, Technorati, Flickr, YouTube, and RSS

PHILADELPHIA PA – Advocates for the U.S. Route 422 Master Plan, apparently having felt like they’ve endured undue lumps from the press and the public, are taking the offensive to better define what the plan is … and isn’t.

It IS, they say, a series of strategies to reduce traffic congestion, expand transportation choices, and make better use of available land in the highway corridor that stretches 25 miles from King of Prussia west to Reading PA. It passes though Limerick, Lower Pottsgrove, and Pottstown en route.

It ISN’T only a way to return commuter trains to the area, they add. It ISN’T guaranteed that drivers will pay tolls to travel 422, although that possibility continues to be studied. And, as a result, any municipality that endorses the plan ISN’T also automatically endorsing a toll.

Those explanations and others were unveiled Thursday (Sept. 9, 2010) on a page labeled “422plus FAQs” – a reference to answers for seven frequently-asked questions about the highway and the master plan – that are now posted on what is called the 422plus Project website.

• Read the full page of 422 frequently asked questions and their answers here.
• Want to receive 422plus Project newsletters yourself? They’re free. Apply here.

The FAQs intend “to explain the issues at hand, clear up misconceptions, and clarify details” about the plan, according to a steering committee that introduced the page in a newsletter distributed by e-mail. The committee consists of Berks, Chester and Montgomery counties; Norfolk Southern Corp., SEPTA, and the Berks Area Regional Transportation Authority; the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation, and the Philadelphia-based Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission.

One FAQ defines the project and the accompanying master plan as a way to create “a transportation system that works and a funding strategy” to provide “a better ride on US 422,” “better maintenance and safer operation,” and “transportation alternatives” like mass transit.

Two different FAQs address often-heard public complaints that earlier taxes have already paid for 422, and that no additional tolling should be necessary; and that toll money, if collected, will be spent on other projects in the state rather than remain for 422.

Because committee representatives – as they try to build grass-roots support for the master plan – have faced hostility in municipal board rooms over the specter of tolling, a final FAQ tackles that issue too. “If your hometown leaders endorse (the project), it means only that your local officials are willing to work with their community, the state, the participating counties, and other alliances to explore the 10 planning strategies outlined,” it explains.

Municipalities that agree with the strategies “are not endorsing tolling,” it says flatly.

Several municipal leaders have individually proclaimed they oppose tolling of the highway in any form. The master plan has been endorsed by the Limerick Township Board of Supervisors; rejected by Pottstown Borough Council; and remains tabled for consideration by the Lower Pottsgrove Township Board of Commissioners.

Related (to U.S. Route 422 Corridor planning):

• 422 Plus Project Plays Offense With FAQs Debut
• Peering Into The Future? Gov’s Bridge Proposal And 422
• Another Township Endorses 422 Master Plan
• Neighboring Limerick Supervisors Endorse 422 Master Plan
• Understand 422 Plan Endorsement, Lower Pottsgrove Advised
• Lower Pottsgrove Holds On 422 Plan Endorsement
• Engineers Claim PA Roads Worse Now Than In 2006
• Tuesday Session Tackles Funding For 422 And Elsewhere
• Tolls, Lower Pottsgrove Station Part Of 422 Plan
• Pending Decision May Affect Route 422 Projects
• Last Day For Your Say On Route 422 Plan
• Notebook Worthy (Aug. 24, 2009)
• Consultants Express Interest In Studying 422
• Don’t Like 422 Tolling? Website Wants Your Alternative
• Truckers Alerted On Highway Partnerships Bill
• In 422 Debate, Time A Hindrance And Help
• Notebook Worthy (June 29, 2009)
• Growth, Planners Say, Is 422’s Growing Problem
• Tech Used To Draw For 422 Meetings
• Route 422 Toll Meetings Next Week
• 422 Repairs, Delays Start Tuesday
• 422 Proposal, Like Traffic, Creeps Ahead
• Got A Route 422 Idea? Time To Air It
• Train Service On The Front Burner Once More

Photo from the 422plus Project website

Sign up to get The Sanatoga Post delivered free daily by e-mail. Share this article.
See our galleries for photos that appear in The Post. Got news for us? E-mail The Post.
Find The Posts on Twitter, Facebook, Linked-In, Technorati, Flickr, YouTube, and RSS