Since the Bingen Road bridge was closed by PennDOT for repairs Tuesday, June 13, westbound traffic has often been stacked along Seidersville Road all the way from Rt. 378 to beyond Mario’s at the bend in the road.
Just when the traffic situation in western Lower Saucon Township appeared it couldn’t get much worse, it was announced by the City of Bethlehem in their weekly road work update Friday that the installation of fiber optic lines for Lehigh University will begin along Mountain Drive the week of June 19.
According to the update, a contractor “will begin work this Monday and will be closing lanes with flaggers between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m. between Hayes Street and Seidersville Road.”
“This work will continue for several months,” the email stated.
Although the official PennDOT detour around the Bingen Road bridge closure in Lower Saucon Township–which will last through mid-August–does not include Mountain Drive, motorists have been using it as a detour around the detour, as westbound traffic has regularly been backing up along Seidersville Road, approaching Rt. 378.
At rush hour the traffic has frequently been backed up from the light at the intersection to Mario’s, the former barber shop located in the bend where Seidersville transitions to Hickory Hill Road.
Lower Saucon Township Police have been deployed to manually control the timing of the light at Seidersville Road and Rt. 378 and move traffic along at busier times of day.
A map shows the area of Mountain Drive where a contractor will be installing fiber optic lines for Lehigh University over the next few months.
