Note: The following opinion piece was originally published on Hellertown native Michael Sutherland’s blog about urban planning and related issues, A Place for People. It is republished with permission.
PennDOT’s $2.5 million dollar replacement of the Water Street Bridge across the Saucon Creek is now scheduled to be completed during the summer of 2019.
New plans though have no sidewalk, which the bridge currently includes, instead adding an eight-foot-wide shoulder to that side of the bridge.
Water Street, looking east from the sidewalk on the current bridge toward Hellertown borough
Why is this an issue? Isn’t it more space for people on the bridge?
The sidewalk being elevated above the roadway, even though having less space than a wider shoulder, gives a clear split between the space for people and cars. Having that little bit of separation gives a comfort level which does not exist when a car could easily move over a painted white line and hit you.
It is a small change in the design plans. Even if you put in a five-foot sidewalk a three-foot shoulder would exist, mirroring what is planned for the opposite side of the roadway.
But why stop there? If you elevated the entire eight-foot shoulder it could then connect to the planned shared-use path through Water Street Park. This slight design change puts in jeopardy a very important pedestrian connection for the area.
PennDOT’s current plans are rather short-sighted, thinking very little about the long-term implications for local residents traveling across the creek in something other than a car.
A Plan for People: Walking and Biking in Saucon Valley speaks about the issue of a well maintained, interconnected sidewalk network to allow for safe travel of people walking. And if it is not safe for the most vulnerable people in society, then it truly is not safe at all.
If you feel similarly, please write to the leaders of this project at their addresses below:
- PennDOT Consultant Project Manager Jayne McColl, PennDOT District 5-0, 1002 Hamilton St., Allentown, PA 18101, c-*******@pa.gov
- Consultant Project Manager Eric Martz, KCI Technologies Inc., 5001 Louise Drive, St. 201, Mechanicsburg, PA 17055, er********@kc*.com
