The state Department of Transportation is planning to introduce left-turn signals at a few south-bound intersections on the strip of state Route 61 which runs through the city, City Administrator Thomas A. Palamar said Thursday.
“To me the biggest benefit out of all of the concepts we’ve seen so far is they provide a safe left turn. From what I’ve seen, that’s been part of all of them,” Palamar said.
It’s one of the more exciting developments city officials heard when PennDOT met with city police, Palamar, Thomas W. Whitaker, the city’s superintendent of streets, and city Councilman Joseph J. Devine Jr. on Feb. 23.
“They gave us some insights into our options,” Palamar said.
“They still have a lot of work to do,” Whitaker said.
“They’re still in the process of studying right-of-way and traffic flow,” Palamar said.
Representatives of PennDOT will make a presentation on its traffic signal study at a city council meeting in either May or June, Palamar said.
“Public meetings are part of PennDOT’s design process. We hold public meetings for all of our projects during design to inform the public on the project and also ascertain feedback from them,” Sean Brown, safety press officer for PennDOT District 5, Allentown, said Thursday.
In 2015, PennDOT started its analysis of traffic signals along Route 61 from the South Centre Street intersection — which is actually in North Manheim Township — to Mill Creek Avenue.
The study and the improvements will cost about $1 million. They will be financed by a federal program. And the effort will serve the more than 14,500 vehicles that roll through the corridor daily, and businesses including the recently rebuilt A-Plus Mini Market, which opened in June, and the new CVS Pharmacy, which is expected to open in April.
Palamar anticipates the project will be underway in 2017.
Devine tried to figure out the last time the corridor had experienced so much change.
“Maybe when it was Route 122,” Devine said.
On July 22, 1949, the first leg of Pottsville Boulevard opened. It was a $1,553,190-project that stretched from East Mines to Mauch Chunk Street. The contractor was J. Robert Bazley, Pottsville, according to the newspaper’s archives.
On Jan. 27, 1950, Bazley, the low bidder, was hired to build the second leg of Pottsville Boulevard, an extension from Mauch Chunk Street to Mount Carbon, according to the newspaper’s archives.
In 1950, U.S. Route 122 was moved from Centre Street to Pottsville Boulevard, according to www.pahighways.com.
On July 19, 1951, the state governor at the time, John S. Fine, attended the dedication of the second leg of the boulevard. It was a $2,444,300 project, according to the newspaper’s archives.
In 1963, U.S. Route 122 was decommissioned and the stretch of road from Reading to Sunbury was renamed Pennsylvania Route 61, according to www.pahighways.com.
Today, the four-lane strip of Route 61 from Mauch Chunk Street north to the city line sees more than 14,500 vehicles a day and is flanked by landmark businesses including the city’s Union Station and the corporate office building One Norwegian Plaza.
Officials from the state Department of Transportation said they expected the replacement of two bridges very close to each other in Pottsville and Palo Alto to be complete in November.
Once those bridge projects are completed, Palamar said, the state will be ready to hire a contractor to upgrade the traffic signals along Route 61 in Pottsville.
Last year, PennDOT hired Rummel, Klepper & Kahl LLP, Baltimore, Maryland, as the design consultant. RK&K is working on the study at a cost of between $150,000 and $200,000, Ronald J. Young Jr., district press officer for PennDOT, District 5, Allentown, said in December.
“Construction is estimated at between $900,000 and $1.1 million, so that plus design cost is in the $1.1 million to $1.3 million range,” Young said in December.
Young could not be reached for comment Thursday.
The study includes signals at Route 61 and South Centre Street; Route 61 and Mauch Chunk Street, Route 209; Route 61 and Norwegian Street; Route 61 and Arch Street/Laurel Boulevard; and Route 61 and Mill Creek Avenue.
“We are currently still working through the details of the project. At the public meeting, we will be prepared to present our plan for the signals,” Brown said Thursday.
“I think whatever way PennDOT and RK&K believe the traffic will flow best, based on their experience, I believe that’s going to be OK with us. Things we were concerned about were safe left-hand turns and safe pedestrian crossings and the condition of the streets and signals,” Palamar said.