SEPTA on Friday unveiled its preferred plan to extend
regional rail service to King of Prussia: an elevated spur that would run four
to five miles, mainly along the Pennsylvania Turnpike.
With an estimated pricetag of $1.1 billion, the spur off
the Norristown High Speed Line could be operational by 2023, officials said. It
would carry 8,500 passengers daily to five stops, including one inside the King
of Prussia Mall.
The goal is loftier: to finally connect Philadelphia via
rail to a business and commercial hub among the largest of its kind in the
country.
"It really minimizes the impact to residential
areas," said Liz Smith, SEPTA's manager of long-range planning,
"while providing maximum impact for development and jobs."
Friday's announcement marked a major step for the
project, which has been in early phases for years. But the plan, chosen from
among five proposals, still faces major road bumps.
Both opponents and supporters of the project said Friday
that the chosen plan is the best of those considered - especially compared to
an unpopular option to build a rail line along Route 202.
Still, some voiced concerns.
"I think a lot of people just find it insulting in
our community that it's solely benefitting the businesses," said Dan
Cowhey, a resident of the Valley Forge Homes neighborhood, where the rail line
would pass yards away from some homes. "It's going to disrupt our
lives."
The proposed 17-foot-high rail spur would include five
stops: one at Henderson Road, with vehicle parking; two at the King of Prussia
Mall, including a stop that deposits passengers in the mall itself; and two
more in the King of Prussia Business Park, an old commercial and industrial
site poised for mixed-use redevelopment.
The plan will meet its first test March 7, at a hearing
designed to acquaint the public with it and solicit reaction.
Keen to avoid criticism that residents haven't been given
enough notification about the project, SEPTA this week mailed an introduction
to the plan to 30,000 addresses in Upper Merion Township.
Cowhey and his neighbors have collected 500 petition
signatures asking SEPTA to allow Upper Merion residents a vote on the plan.
"The residents of the township come first,"
said Greg Waks, vice president of the Upper Merion Township board of
supervisors. "Most people also know that one of the reasons why we have
the lowest taxes in the area as well as a very high rate of services is because
we have a strong local business community. So it's not so cut-and-dry."
The supervisors have not taken an official position. Waks
said he was happy to see that the widely unpopular proposal for a rail line
along Route 202 had been abandoned, and said the current plan is "worth
exploration."
Upper Merion is among the most productive townships in
the five-county region in job creation, and a recent report from the Economy
League of Greater Philadelphia touted the potential benefits of rail to the
community's robust retail business sector.
Over 20 years, the study projected, rail service could
bring $540 million to $946 million in real estate value and 1,000 or more jobs
annually, up to 29,000 new King of Prussia employees. The rail project also
eventually could save drivers 1.7 million to 2.1 million hours per year now
spent on congested roads.
"If this can get done it will be a real game changer
for our region," said Montgomery County Commissioner Valerie Arkoosh.
Eric Goldstein, executive director of the King of Prussia
Business Improvement District, praised the preferred route and stop locations
as the best options for attracting economic development, especially at the King
of Prussia Business Park, now host to 20,000 employees.
"We have to make these investments in public
transportation if we are going to be a viable region, nationally, going
forward," Goldstein said.
SEPTA plans to seek New Starts grant money in 2018 from
the Federal Transportation Administration to pay for half of the $1.1 billion
cost. It is working with area consultants and stakeholders to find sources for
the rest.
"I think it's great," said Rob Henry, executive
director for Greater Valley Forge Transportation Management Association and one
of the people who pushed for SEPTA to consider adding a spur about four years
ago. "I think it's the one that will have the most impact from an economic
perspective."
Many steps still lie ahead before the rail spur can
become a reality. Comments from three March hearings could result in changes to
the plan that will be incorporated into a draft environmental impact statement,
expected to be finished in December. That will also be opened for public
comment.
The final environmental impact statement must be approved
by the FTA as well as SEPTA's board, the Montgomery County commissioners, the
Upper Merion board of supervisors, and the Delaware Valley Regional Planning
Commission.
The project is among SEPTA's most ambitious.
Source: Philly.com
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