Worst place and time to be on the road? Fridays westbound on Rte 22 near Rte 378, between 5 and 6PM.
Overall, the LV ranks #57 nationwide. Other rankings in the Keystone State are as follows: Philly - #10; Pittsburgh - #24; and Harrisburg - #60.
Thursday, February 25, 2010
LV Traffic Congestion Up 35%
According to the INRIX National Traffic Scorecard, the Lehigh Valley has experienced a 35% rise in congestion over the past year. This follows two successive years of decreases.
Worst place and time to be on the road? Fridays westbound on Rte 22 near Rte 378, between 5 and 6PM.
Overall, the LV ranks #57 nationwide. Other rankings in the Keystone State are as follows: Philly - #10; Pittsburgh - #24; and Harrisburg - #60.
Mea Culpa: Thanks to my readers, who note I had Rte 222 instead of Rte 22.
Worst place and time to be on the road? Fridays westbound on Rte 22 near Rte 378, between 5 and 6PM.
Overall, the LV ranks #57 nationwide. Other rankings in the Keystone State are as follows: Philly - #10; Pittsburgh - #24; and Harrisburg - #60.
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31 comments:
Hey Villa, you are Tweety Bird batshit nuts. And your Wife Angel Ali Osama Obama Bin Laden Stepford Villa is just as tweety Bird Bat Shit nuts.
But back to the topic, Why don't we just close 22 completely, tear out all the bridges and make it a landing Strip for LVIA?
Typo in the post, Bernie. 222 = 22.
It's those damned internal combustion engines. Anybody getting warm?
Bernie,
First, on topic, why didn't previous Rte. 22 improvements include widening? If money is the only answer, it will always be more costly in the future when it finally happens. All should have been done at the very same time, then, now or in the future, is my opinion. Too late for then! Now what?
Second, I don't understand why Villa's "need" your audience so much so that they want to steer your folks to their site with ALL of their off topic comments here! I can only surmise that they can't attract folks to their blog with their own current event topics. Go figure. www.kisslinger,com
Hay (yes, hay)! I resemble those remarks!
Bernie,
Where is Route 222 near 378?
Confused in Bethlehem here.
Route 22 between Cedar Crest and Airport road is the most congested and the most dangerous road in the Valley. Improving the ramps is imperative, however, it still does not solve the capacity issue. This section should be widened to handle the capacity. The sections east and west of this corridor carry about 75,000 vehicles.
Route 22 at Route 145 carries 100,000 vehicles per day. With access to Allentown (35,000 vehicles daily) and Shopping in Whitehall (37000 vehicles daily), this has to be the most important intersection in the entire Lehigh Valley. This project warrants Federal funding.
Hello Larry!
Fixing 22 back in 98 made too much sense. That's why it didn't happen.
The Villas hang out here because they are LONELY people.
Who wouldn't want to hang out on Bernie's blog all day? Their other choice is tag team reading the blogs 24/7. Sounds like an exciting life. Sitting around all day wondering who is watching them.
Anon 6:24, I compliment your knowledge on this issue. Informed as you are, you must be aware of the theory advanced by Pratima Agrawal, who argued that eidening Rte 22 just invites more traffic, which in turn produces more congestion. I believe she was able to back that up with some studies, and will try to find her op-ed. But what do you say to Pratima's argument?
different anon here. hows about a "478" looping around the valley to the north?
A resounding "no" to the 478 idea from someone who enjoys the serenity of the northern part of Valley. NIMBY? Guilty as charged. The designs of many of 22's interchanges were clearly created by drunks without engineering background. Even several of the newer interchanges on 33 from 22 to 78 are death traps. I get "if you build it they will come." But they're already here.
Lehigh Valley Partnership want to make Lehigh Valley an armpit ghetto of Phila. and NY. Sadly they are succeeding.
Say no to widening 22. through out the carpetbaggers.
After PennDOT's 222 Bypass debacle, I take their analyses with a grain (or more) of salt. The argument PennDOT advanced for Route 222 bypass' boulevard design was that it would lead to businesses flourishing. Of course, one wonders why a boulevard design would lead to such commercial development while a highway design would not. The real reason? Building overpasses costs more. And that's a legitimate reason, but why not just come out and admit rather than shine disengenuous with the public. The whole reason is that we've gone from a much needed widening of Route 22 to this assinine Rte. 145 off ramp design is money and the neutered representation this region has in Harrisburg. It's hard to believe that PennDOT would be quite so reticent about the widening if someone form the Valley was the Transportation Secretary or had any position of power in the legislature.
The Route 478 outer loop will create the Sprawl that most do not want. It still does not solve the problem of local valley commuters try to get to jobs on the opposite end of town.
The references that I have seen compare widening project through undeveloped land where development was inevitable. Route 22 is fully developed. Unless there is a freeze on all new developments, traffic volumes will continue to increase.
I suspect in last decade, just about every main artery has seen increase traffic volumes. Road improvements do not create traffic, developments do. Just look at LMT. The developments came before the Road improvements.
I also read how the smart growth advocates against Route 22 were proponents of Route 33 expansion. That destroyed vast amounts of farmland however it had direct benefits to their back yard.
Anon 755 just ask Dan Onorato and PA Trans Secretary Allen Biehler about transportation investments in Southwest PA.
Just ask Rep Gerlach about his fight to invest in Route 202.
Our Legislators have been absent on the Route 22. Proper investment would happen if they were engaged. Maybe we need new leadership.
The Lehigh Valley legislative contingent is impotent. Ron Angle would at least get us some attention
Ron Angle has never gotten anything accomplished. Oh wait, he has. When he was in charge of a political body the taxes went up. From School Board to Township. He is a big talker and a big taxer!
"I also read how the smart growth advocates against Route 22 were proponents of Route 33 expansion. That destroyed vast amounts of farmland however it had direct benefits to their back yard."
Anon 8:18 - I find this a little hard to believe, can you cite any sources?
"Worst place and time to be on the road? Fridays westbound on Rte 222 near Rte 378, between 5 and 6PM."
At no point does 222 intersect with 378.
My apologies. That's a typo. It's Rte 22, not Rte 222. I'll correct my post.
57th worst in the nation. Not to bad considering the same study rates "Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton" as the 62nd most populated. Ha.
Also, lets stop it with that hooky "lehigh valley" denial thing. We are what we are. Lehigh Valley isn't even on a map.
Also, traffic has gone down dramatically since 2006. We would have to have 30% increases the next two years just to get back to 2005 levels!
I think that more and more of us are getting a "Lehigh Valley" identity. In fact, I'd like to see the two counties merge, but I admit I'm pretty much alone in that view.
Show me a metropolitan area of the country where traffic isn't bad between 5 and 6. (We built our society around automobiles and now were relegated to live in them.) But you don't build the church for Easter Sunday. By 6 p.m. you can cruise 22 at 50 MPH or more. Same with 8:15 a.m. Try that in most major metros where rush hour is 7-9 and 4-6:30. We have it good here, people.
I agree with the Lehigh Valley sentiment.
The locals certainly love so they can pretend they live somewhere they really don't but the rest of the world doesn't have a clue.
Why we got rid of the trolleys that went from Allentown to Bethlehem I'll never know.
You need to check the accident, injury, and fatality statistics. The fact that RENEWLV is standing in the way of properly rebuilding the most dangerous section of highway in the valley undermines their credibilty.
Sorry for being harsh on RENEW however, we need to consider what happens when Route 22 backs up. It pours more traffic on secondary roads. Just look at what happens at Shoenersville. On Thursday at 3:45 Route 22 WB was backed up to Rt 378. Like many, I exited and found my way around secondary roads where I sat in INDUCED traffic resulting from traffic diverted from the RT 22 backup. Instead of addressing congestion on main arteries, PennDOT now has to accomodate unnecessary congestion on secondary roads and dozens of intersections.
What has a greater carbon footprint? The commute of 25,000 vehicles extended for 30 minutes, or an extra 10,000 vehicles on the road commuting for 30 minutes?
I support alternative transportation to supplement proper reconstruction of main arteries. However I prefer it on a more local level.
The right of way from the end of the American Parkway leading to Bethlhem should NOT be extended for motor vehicles. It should be used to accomodate people mover (electric trollies) From Bethlehem to Allentown near the Riverfront then to retail corridor along Route 145. I am not really sure rail to NY solves any mobility problems here in the Valley.
I do appreciate the open discussion here.
Should have finished my thought with Easton, howver I just do not know the appropriate corridor.
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