New year may bring major changes to Bethlehem Pike
In 2010, Springfield Township residents may see more comprehensive storm-water management, changes in both the utilization and appearance of Bethlehem Pike and a tenant moving into the Black Horse Inn.
The township is making an effort to be fiscally conservative due to the depressed economy, and officials have asked municipal department heads to spend prudently, at least until July, when the administration hopes to re-evaluate, Assistant Township Manager Mike Taylor said in an interview Wednesday.
This means holding off on some non-urgent projects for the time being, such as aesthetic improvements, in order to plan for unforeseen revenue problems related to economy, such as a decline in township income from the real estate transfer tax, he said.
The Black Horse Inn reconstruction is expected to reach a milestone in late February or early March, when part of the first floor should be ready for the Springfield Historical Society to move in and establish its headquarters, Taylor said.
With the exterior renovations finished, work on the interior has been divided into phases that will be completed as funding becomes available, he said.
At present, crews are working on one-half to two-thirds of the first floor only, he said.
The township has a grant from the commonwealth to renovate the inn, but it required a 50 percent local match, which the board of commissioners decided to pay in installments, so that the money would be on hand before payments are made. This piecemeal approach is the reason the fundraising campaign is ongoing, Taylor said.
The goal is for the historical society to move into the building to create an energy that could show residents it’s a beneficial project, and hopefully help with fundraising, Taylor said.
Elsewhere along Bethlehem Pike, the township plans to continue the streetscape project, which includes installing ornamental streetlamps and making the sidewalks and crosswalks ADA-compliant.
Workers are currently installing concrete foundations for the ornamental lamps. They will then focus on the electrical conduit work, Taylor said.
After that, focus will turn to handicap ramp construction, which will require new curbs at the intersections with Mill Road, Bysher and College avenues and Wissahickon and Montgomery avenues, he said.
The project is expected to continue through the spring, as workers cannot complete the concrete work in the cold, he said.
The gateway pillars in Erdenheim and Flourtown, along with their stamped paving and ornamental lamps, are practically finished, save a few small items, Taylor said.
Within the next year, residents are also likely to see infill concrete sidewalks along Bethlehem Pike, thanks to a county community development block grant, most likely between Montgomery and Hillcrest avenues and between Paper Mill Road, Stenton Avenue and Bells Mill Road, on the east side of the street, Taylor said.
Officials are not proposing sidewalks for the west side of the pike because no safe pedestrian crossing exists at the intersection at Paper Mill Road. Instead, they plan to install signs on the west side of street to direct people to walk on the other side of the road, he said.
Springfield received the grant application mid-December, and officials have to satisfy a minor federal requirement before the project can begin, Taylor said.
Once it starts, the county’s goal for all projects receiving this grant is a September completion date, he said.
Ongoing traffic studies of Bethlehem Pike to explore the possibility of reducing four lanes to two and whether it would, in fact, ease traffic, will continue with the potential for designing a plan and applying for a grant to make changes in the future, Taylor said.
Springfield will also participate in a traffic signal upgrade program with Montgomery County and several municipalities with the intention of seeing traffic signal improvements on the pike at Mill Road, Haws Lane and Montgomery Avenue intersections, Taylor said.
This study, paid for with American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funds, includes routine signal upgrades and would pave the way for pedestrian signal enhancements and installation of black ornamental poles that would both match the new streetlamps and give the signals higher visibility, Taylor said.
These big changes would happen when and if the township can pursue a lane alignment plan for Bethlehem Pike, he added.
Regarding flooding, there have also been discussions about taking a townshipwide approach to storm-water management this year, rather than completion of individual projects throughout the area, Taylor said.
A storm-water management project on the 300 block of Oreland Mill Road is in design phase, and the hope is for construction to begin this year to build a below-ground water detention basin, he said.
The township is also looking at storm-water management projects in two Erdenheim neighborhoods, at Atwood and Longfield roads, which experience periodic flooding, and officials are in the process of reaching out to obtain easements from the neighbors who could be affected, Taylor said.
Residents might also see construction sometime in 2010 to align the roads at the intersection of Pennsylvania Avenue and Camp Hill Road between Oreland and Fort Washington, Taylor said.
PennDot is footing the bill for this project, and officials are about ready to put the project out for bids, he said.