This article was funded by LebTown donors as part of our Civic Impact Reporting Project.

Four years ago, when the county adopted its 2020 Long-Range Transportation Plan, Lebanon County was described as “a likely target for growth in freight and warehousing activity.”

Fast forward to the 2024 Long-Range Transportation Plan, in which three of the nine goals to guide the county’s transportation future involve the burgeoning freight industry.

Read More: County MPO seeks public input on transportation improvement plans

The plan was approved by the Metropolitan Planning Organization’s policy board on Thursday.

More specifically, the plan calls for working with municipalities on freight management tools related to land use overlays and truck parking, encouraging land use ordinances that locate warehouses near rail lines, and supporting the Eastern PA Freight Alliance, a group of five MPOs across 10 counties dealing with rapid growth of warehouses and distribution centers.

“Back in 2020, freight in Lebanon County was just beginning to churn,” said Steve Chiaramonte, vice president of consulting firm WSP, who worked on the long-range plan and updated the policy board. “That perspective has shifted with Carlisle-Franklin County’s freight node closing in from the west and Lehigh Valley’s from the east.”

Lebanon County sits in the middle.

Read More: Lebanon County gaining traction as key freight corridor for movement of goods

The long-range plan notes some of the impacts of freight-centered development — in particular, increases in truck traffic — but also some opportunities.

Those include encouraging regional collaboration to address challenges that cross municipal lines; identification of infrastructure improvements to reduce congestion; and exploration of land use ordinances to encourage development along rail-served sites.

Other goals of the long-range plan are to add MPO staff to help with implementation of the long-range plan and to support a bicycle/pedestrian advisory group.

In other business, members of the MPO policy board heard an update from PennDOT about several projects in the county.

Carey Mullins, transportation planning manager for PennDOT District 8-0, said the bridge replacement on State Route 72 over the Swatara Creek is on target to be completed before the end of the year.

Read More:

That was good news for Lebanon city Mayor Sherry Capello, who said that some truck drivers are not following PennDOT’s detours and instead are turning onto city streets.

“We’ve had several incidents where tractor-trailers have taken wires down,” Capello said after the meeting. “One even took out a utility pole.”

The Wilhelm Avenue/Cornwall Road project also is on schedule with completion in September 2024. The contractor has begun widening Cornwall Road, Mullins said.

Read More: Traffic shift planned this week on Cornwall Road at Wilhelm Avenue

Originally scheduled to begin in April, work on improvements to the Isabel Drive/State Route 72 intersection now will start after July 4, Mullins said. A new light is being installed as well as a dedicated turning lane.

Read More: Improvements to Isabel Drive & Route 72 intersection to begin July 15

Several projects are in design, he reported. These include:

  • Resurfacing Quentin Road from the Lebanon County line to the Speedway station. Plans are to widen the shoulder, which is too narrow for cycling. This project will be bid in spring 2025, Mullins said.
  • Relocation of Spring Creek away from Lingle Avenue to address flooding. Besides drainage improvements, the project will involve raising the road to further reduce flooding events. This project is in Palmyra Borough and North and South Londonderry townships.
  • Possible roundabouts at three intersections:
    • SR501 and Reistville Road
    • SR 343 and Kochendorfer Road
    • US 422 and Prescott Road

MPO member Karen Groh, president/CEO of the Lebanon Valley Chamber of Commerce, asked PennDOT representatives to consider safety improvements at the intersection of State Drive and Schaeffer Road (State Route 419) in South Lebanon Township. In May, a man died in a two-car collision at that intersection.

Read More: Details emerging about fatal Thursday collision at Route 419 and State Drive

The next meeting of the MPO policy board is at 11 a.m., Thursday, Aug. 15, in Room 207, Lebanon Municipal Building, 400 S. 8th St.

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Margaret Hopkins reports primarily on West Cornwall Township, the City of Lebanon Authority, and the Lebanon County Metropolitan Planning Organization. A resident of Mount Gretna Campmeeting, she is interested in the area’s history and its cultural and economic roots. As a former print journalist,...