Flourtown-Erdenheim Community Gateways
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Penn Oak & East Mill
Valley Green & Beth Pike
Cisco Park
The Flourtown-Erdenheim Community Gateways program is a multi-municipal (Springfield and Whitemarsh) grant project funded through the Pennsylvania DOT Transportation Enhancements Program.
Summary
Establish gateway medians and install street trees to delineate entranceways to the Flourtown and Erdenheim Village Shopping Districts and the Valley Green Road Commercial Center. The proposed gateways will serve as traffic calming devices while celebrating the arrival to the business districts.
Full Explanation
Bethlehem Pike between Flourtown and Erdenheim represents one of the oldest commercial corridors in the Delaware Valley The historic inns, mills and other properties located along the Pike tell a unique story as one of the earliest transportation routes for colonial settlers Despite these resources, however, the economic vitality of the corridor has suffered as newer markets have begun to attract business from the corridor Recognizing that the Bethlehern Pike corridor was not operating at its full potential, Springfield and Whitemarsh Townships, together with a group of businesspersons and residents from both municipalities, hired a team of consultants to develop a new vision for the Bethlehem Pike corridor. The vision will incorporate economic, architectural, streetscape and transportation strategies to enhance the commercial corridor This project description will focus only on the transportation enhancements planned for the corridor and more specifically, those related to the creation of gateway entrances to the corridor Bethlehem Pike is a forty-four foot wide, four lane regional highway with very little on-street parking available for businesses Because of multiple turning movements along the road to access adjacent properties or side streets, the road network functions like a two lane road Motorists are constantly weaving between the two travel lanes to negotiate between cars making a left or right turn A series of improvements have been recommended that will enable the corridor to circulate traffic more efficiently, provide for on-street parking and allow for traffic calming that will make the corridor a more pedestrian-friendly environment In order to improve traffic circulation, our traffic engineer has recommended that a center turn lane be created for left turn movements for the entire length of the corridor. The center turn lane will match the existing road configuration of Bethlehem Pike at the North end of the corridor and that of Stenton Avenue at the South end In addition, four separate road configurations are proposed to differentiate the physical locations of the villages and to address commercial density, pedestrian traffic, parking needs and motor vehicle counts unique to each Detailed traftic plans related to the proposed realignment of Bethlehem Pike are being pursued independently of this project It is recognized that the State Route 309 reconstruction project, and the use of Bethlehem Pike as a primary detour, may delay the realignment plans until construction is completed.
One design element of the proposed transportation enhancements that need not be delayed is the creation of community gateways to define the business corridor and to begin the traffic calming necessary for pedestrian oriented village districts "Boulevard style medians with low-growing landscaping will mark the North entrance at Valley Green Road and the South entrance at Gordon Lane The medians will be flanked by architectural piers, period signage and street trees along the sides of the road The typical roadway cross-section will provide two 3' shoulders, two 14' travel lanes, and the 10' traftic median down the center of the Pike These community gateways will serve to alert motorists that they are transitioning from a highway corridor to a village atmosphere.
A third gateway is proposed at the intersection of East Mill Road and Penn Oak Road Here, a triangular shaped roadway median will be created to designate the East entrance to the Flourtown Village District The gateway will be comprised of period signange, landscaping and a stately oak tree that will remember the great Penn Oak that once stood at the intersection for 336 years The gateways will be engineered in accordance with PennDOT design standards for sight distance and other safety principles which should expedite highway occupancy approvals All construction will be located within state or local public right-of-way.