Residents have until June 10 to comment on transportation improvement projects proposed by the Lebanon County Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) for the next four years, as well as on transportation priorities for the next 20 years.
The MPO posted on its website Friday drafts of both its proposed 2025-28 Transportation Improvement Program (TIP), which identifies five road and bridges projects, and its 2024 Long Range Transportation Plan, which considers multiple transportation modes including highways/bridges, rail, transit and bicycle and pedestrian facilities.
“We want to know that we are on the mark with the transportation issues people deal with every day — an intersection that might need a turning lane or a protected left turn or might even need a signal,” said Jon Fitzkee, the county’s senior transportation planner. “The feedback we get from the public helps us know whether there’s a location that is not on our radar but should be.”
Comments can be emailed or mailed. Residents also can participate in online open houses scheduled for Tuesday, May 21, from 2 to 4 p.m. and from 6 to 7:30 p.m. Find the details for those open houses in the document below.
The MPO Policy Board will vote to adopt the draft plans at a public meeting at 11:30 a.m. Thursday, June 20, in the commissioners’ meeting room.
Also to be adopted is the county’s Air Quality Conformity Analysis Report, which ensures proposed transportation projects do not have an adverse impact on air quality.
The five new TIP projects include preliminary engineering assessments of three bridges — two in Bethel Township and one in Annville Township — to determine whether the bridges should be replaced, rehabilitated or preserved. The bridges are on U.S. 22 over Deep Run and on state Route 343 over Elizabeth Run, both in Bethel Township, and the bridge on U.S. 422 over Quittapahilla Creek in Annville Township.
Also listed as a TIP new project is a corridor study of three state roads in the southern end of the county — namely, Route 72/Quentin Road, Route 2001/Cornwall Road, and Route 419/Main Street/Freeman Drive to Poplar Street in Cornwall borough.
Read More: Traffic signal project at Route 72 and Isabel Drive delayed until after July 4
“We are seeing a lot more demands along that corridor due to recent development,” Fitzkee said. “We want to look at what other developments could occur and identify intersection, signal and sidewalk improvements that could become possible projects.”
A bridge maintenance contract for multiple bridges throughout the county is the fifth TIP project. Preliminary engineering is slated for 2026 on this project.
The five new projects bring the total of improvements planned or in the pipeline for advancement to 38. No projects will be added until these are wrapped up, Fitzkee said.
“Once a project is on our improvement program, it will remain there unless the MPO and PennDOT agree the project is no longer viable,” he added.
The 20-year long-range plan, required by the federal government to be updated every four years, takes a broad look at transportation needs across the county. Members of the steering committee that drafted the plan included representatives from several school districts, Lebanon Transit, municipal officials as well as county planning staff.
Several public meetings were held as well to solicit public comment.
“Our long-range plan is a repository of all the potential improvements we’ve heard about from various stakeholders including municipal officials, the public, industry and business,” Fitzkee said. “Feedback that a project is important to the local community can help move it forward.”
Questions about this story? Suggestions for a future LebTown article? Reach our newsroom using this contact form and we’ll do our best to get back to you.
Free news isn’t cheap. If you value the journalism LebTown provides to the community, then help us make it sustainable by becoming a champion of local news. You can unlock additional coverage for the community by supporting our work with a one-time contribution, or joining as a monthly or annual member. You can cancel anytime.
More Top Stories
Something went wrong. Please refresh the page and/or try again.
