UPPER MERION >> SEPTA and more than a half-dozen
stakeholders have recommended the “PECO, Turnpike, First Avenue” route to
extend the Norristown High Speed Line into Upper Merion.
The route recommendation, chosen from five alternative
final routes, will be described at three public meetings in early March in
Upper Merion and Norristown.
Over the last two years the alternative routes were presented to Upper Merion residents
and officials at public comment meetings. Those route alternatives
were winnowed down from an initial set of 16 alternative routes.
“The recommendation was based on weighing the benefits
and impacts of each alternative,” said Elizabeth Smith, the manager of
long-range planning at SEPTA. “We weighed what we heard from the public during
many meetings. We also heard from Route 202 business people and residents that
it (an alternative route using Route 202) would have too much impact on the
community and make it feel too urbanized.”
The recommended “locally preferred alternative” (LPA)
would branch off the existing high-speed line and follow the PECO right of way
for high-tension power lines and then the Pennsylvania Turnpike into Upper
Merion. It would loop around the back parking lot of the King of Prussia Mall
and follow First Avenue to the area of North Gulph Road.
“The recommended route is good because in comparing it to
the other alternative routes it had a lesser impact on the residents,” Smith
said. “It provides a benefit because we are proposing a park-and-ride parking
lot at Henderson Road. That is toward the beginning of the route into Upper
Merion.”
Two of the four routes would have used Route 202 either
with an elevated, concrete rail bed or an at-grade rail installation between
the opposing traffic lanes. One route alternative followed the PECO right of way
directly into the mall area. The final alternative provided a different route
past the King of Prussia Mall into the business park.
Smith said the First Avenue part of the preferred route
provided the “best access to the business park and the most potential for
future redevelopment.”
A group of stakeholders, including SEPTA, Montgomery
County, the King of Prussia District, the Greater Valley Forge Transportation
Management Association and the Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission,
met in September 2015 and endorsed the preferred route, said Byron Comati, the
director of strategic planning and analysis for SEPTA.
“This is a recommendation. It is not a full, binding
decision. We have a long time before a final decision is made,” said Comarti.
“This is an early action on what the recommended alignment should be.”
The first public meeting will be held from 4 to 8 p.m.,
Monday, March 7, at the Radisson Hotel Valley Forge in Upper Merion. A
presentation of the preferred route will be made at 6 p.m.
The second meeting will be held from 4 to 8 p.m.,
Wednesday, March 9, at the Norristown municipal hall in Norristown. The
presentation will be at 6 p.m.
The third meeting will be held from 2 to 8 p.m., Tuesday,
March 15, at the DoubleTree by Hilton Valley Forge Hotel in Upper Merion.
Presentations will be made at 3 and 6 p.m.
Opposition to the concept of extending the regional rail
line has appeared online this winter.
A change.org online petition called, “No
Septa high speed train line in Upper Merion Township” had 500
signatures on Friday morning.
The petition complains many of the Upper Merion stops
will not have parking lots, that trains will run 21 hours each day, that
proposed elevated sections of the route would be built near ranch-style homes
and that SEPTA has been vague about how the estimated $1 billion construction costs
would be funded.
“Upper Merion residents were not asked if they even want
the project to happen,” the petition states. “At the very least, we feel
residents of Upper Merion should vote on the extension of the Norristown High
Speed Line.”
Smith responded that the goal of the planning process is
to hear from the public.
“We are hoping people will attend the next meetings and
we will utilize those (change.org) comments moving forward,” she said.
In December 2015 the Economy League of
Greater Philadelphia (ELGP) and 16 stakeholders unveiled a study touting the
economic virtues of the rail extension. The KOP Rail Coalition
posted the 38-page study at www.connectKOP.com, and SEPTA regularly updates www.kingofprussiarail.com
on the progress of the long-range planning process. #KOPRail is the hashtag
created by ELGP to advocate for the transit project.
“It is exciting to be at this stage in what has been a
transparent and data-driven planning process,” said Montgomery County
commissioners’ Vice Chairwoman Val Arkoosh in an email. “The need for KOPRail
is very important to the county’s continued solid economic growth.”
The King of Prussia District (KOP-BID) endorsed the
PECO/Turnpike/FirstAvenue route alternative at www.connectKOP.com.
“This critical infrastructure investment will provide a
much needed alternate mode of travel,” said Eric Goldstein, the executive
director of the KOP-BID, “to the largest employment and commercial center in the
suburban Philadelphia region.”
Source: Times
Herald
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