The Sanatoga Post

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

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SANATOGA PA – William R. Gift Co., a Boyertown fuel distributor, won Lower Pottsgrove (PA) Township‘s business Monday (Oct. 4, 2010) for its purchase of diesel fuel during 2011, the Board of Commissioners unanimously agreed, assuming legal documents for the fuel sale are approved by township Solicitor R. Kurtz Holloway.

Gift was the lowest acceptable bidder, at $2.505 per gallon, to supply the township with diesel fuel over the next 12 months at the municipal garage for its vehicles, and for use at two sewer pumping stations. Gift’s bid, and the responses of eight other suppliers to Lower Pottsgrove’s call for bidders, were opened earlier Monday. Of those, only Gift and three others quoted prices; the others declined to bid, according to Manager Rodney Hawthorne.

Related:

• Lower Pottsgrove Commissioners May Reward Bidders
• The Most Important Boring News You’ll Read Today

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

• Lower Pottsgrove Gives Gift Its Diesel Fuel Business
• Lower Pottsgrove Commissioners May Reward Bidders

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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.

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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.

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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

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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

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SANATOGA PA – Platinum-level recognition, the highest in the first annual sustainability awards recently presented by the Greater Valley Forge Transportation Management Association to companies that provide and promote commuting alternatives for their employees and community, has been won by Traffic Planning and Design Inc. of Sanatoga PA.

Among others receiving the award was the Valley Forge National Historical Park in King of Prussia PA.

GVFTMA is a not-for-profit transportation management association dedicated to reducing congestion and enhancing mobility in the region. The awards were presented during a breakfast at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in King of Prussia, and featured area Congresswoman Allyson Schwartz as its guest speaker.

• Watch a video of the congresswoman’s remarks at GVFTMA’s YouTube account, here.

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SANATOGA PA – As if we needed a reminder of what’s due from Mother Nature in the months ahead, Lower Pottsgrove (PA) Township last week announced – as it does every year – that it would look to sign contractors for their help in clearing streets and roads of snow and ice during the winter.

The Board of Commissioners gave its unanimous approval last week (Sept. 7, 2010) to Manager Rodney Hawthorne’s annual request to seek bidders for snow plowing duties that supplement work done in township equipment by its employees.

The township has about 100 miles of public road, of which 25 miles are maintained by the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT). To clear the remainder Lower Pottsgrove hires independent plow owners as needed, particularly during heavy accumulations, to ensure roads are cleaned in a timely manner.

It’s not cheap. Hiring contractors in past years has cost the township between $70 and $150 an hour per truck, depending on individual bids accepted and the size of trucks used.

Between three and five companies are expected to submit bids, which will be due in coming weeks. Although the township probably will rely first and most often on the most acceptable lowest-cost bidders, Hawthorne told board members all submitted bids are likely to be entertained … because you never know when Mother Nature will decide to send a wallop our way.

Photo from Google Images

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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.

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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

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SANATOGA PA – The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation hears more than its share of complaints, and rarely gets an “atta boy” for its successes. Time to change that, Scott Exley figures.

Exley, president of Bursich Associates – Lower Pottsgrove (PA) Township‘s engineering firm – observed Tuesday (Sept. 7, 2010) to the Board of Commissioners that PennDOT “accomplished what it said it would do” in renovating the formerly closed East High Street bridge crossing Sanatoga Creek: it ensured the bridge opened in time for school buses to roll across unimpeded by barriers or detours.

Lower Pottsgrove, which occasionally has taken PennDOT to task during to years of discussions over bridge repairs, might now want to express its thanks, Exley suggested. Commissioners, during their first of two monthly meetings, whole-heartedly agreed. “They did keep to the schedule,” board President Jonathan Spadt said of the agency’s planners.

Township Manager Rodney Hawthorne will write the letter on behalf of the board.

Related (to the East High Street bridge):

• Lower Pottsgrove To PennDOT: Good Job, Guys
• Promises Kept, Sanatoga Bridge Opened On Time
• Sanatoga Bridge Open In 11 Days, PennDOT Promises
• Bridge Repair Schedule Likely On Tonight’s Agenda
• Commissioners Ask For Bridge Progress Report
• Sanatoga Bridge Torn Up; Choose Alternate Route
• Bridge Closing Affects School Buses This Week
• Plans Ready For 422 Emergency When Bridge Closes
• Bridge Work Started, But You Might Miss It
• PennDOT To Fine Contractor For Bridge Work Delays
• Traffic Pattern Shifts Ahead At High Street Bridge
• State Says High St. Bridge Repairs To Cost $2.2M
• PennDOT Offer Sanatoga Bridge Work Timeline
• Details Are In That Pesky Paperwork
• PennDOT Set For Meeting On Bridge Work
• Missing Walks Latest Bridge Complaint
• 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 the Lower Pottsgrove Board of Commissioners’ meeting of Sept. 7):

• Lower Pottsgrove To PennDOT: Good Job, Guys
• Township Examines Tax-Break District Potential

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TRAFFIC FLOWS FREELY ON FIRST DAY – The East High Street bridge crossing Sanatoga Creek between Sanatoga Road and Allison Drive in Pottstown PA re-opened Monday (Aug. 30, 2010), with no fanfare and 77 days after its initial closing on June 14. The formerly crumbling stone arch bridge has been substantially rebuilt by a Pennsylvania Department of Transportation contractor at a cost of about $2.2 million. Although both west- and eastbound lanes (seen above Monday evening at about 6:30) on the deck of the bridge are now available to drivers, masonry work continues on both sides (below) to complete its stone facade. Lower Pottsgrove (PA) Township commissioners have been told a flagman will occasionally be needed to control traffic flow, with ravel sometimes restricted to one lane, as work proceeds toward a December or earlier completion date.

Related (to the East High Street bridge):

• Promises Kept, Sanatoga Bridge Opened On Time
• Sanatoga Bridge Open In 11 Days, PennDOT Promises
• Bridge Repair Schedule Likely On Tonight’s Agenda
• Commissioners Ask For Bridge Progress Report
• Sanatoga Bridge Torn Up; Choose Alternate Route
• Bridge Closing Affects School Buses This Week
• Plans Ready For 422 Emergency When Bridge Closes
• Bridge Work Started, But You Might Miss It
• PennDOT To Fine Contractor For Bridge Work Delays
• Traffic Pattern Shifts Ahead At High Street Bridge
• State Says High St. Bridge Repairs To Cost $2.2M
• PennDOT Offer Sanatoga Bridge Work Timeline
• Details Are In That Pesky Paperwork
• PennDOT Set For Meeting On Bridge Work
• Missing Walks Latest Bridge Complaint
• 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

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