ALLENTOWN, Pa. — Dozens of people who live and work in downtown Allentown weighed in Thursday on a project to redesign one of Center City’s busiest, and best-known, intersections.
City officials and representatives from Omnes Landscape Architecture held a pop-up event Thursday afternoon at 7th and Hamilton streets, which is set to be overhauled.
- The project to redesign the intersection at 7th and Hamilton streets includes closing several parts of those roads to traffic
- Officials and landscape designers held two events Thursday to learn what people want in the project
- Residents and employees in Allentown could vote on the intersection’s final design
Plans displayed at the event indicate a significant change is coming to the intersection’s traffic patterns.
Parts of 7th and Hamilton streets near the intersection are set to become part of extended plazas, marked in purple in the map below.
That portion of the redesign project is all but locked in, but officials and designers are trying to find out how residents want to use all the extra space, Omnes representatives said Thursday.
The project would not touch the Soldiers and Sailors monument in the middle of the intersection, according to plans presented Thursday.
Allentown officials hope to complete the project’s planning and design phases by the end of 2023, Allentown Communications Manager Genesis Ortega said.
That would let construction start next summer and finish by the end of the year.
Public to vote on redesign
People at Thursday’s pop-up were given markers and colorful stickers to tell officials what they want to see included in the project.
Those stickers showed many would prefer the space be used for dining, seating, farmers markets and festivals, while others called for enhanced pedestrian safety measures, spaces for gathering and celebration, and better lighting.
"The idea is that we’re getting feedback for what people want in the spaces that are blank right now."Sara Harmon, Omnes Landscape Architecture
City officials and Omnes employees also were scheduled to hold an event at 5 p.m. Thursday at the ArtsWalk Pocket Park.
The company plans to hold an exhibit at Allentown City Hall to tell residents more about the project as it progresses, Omnes Principal Laura Stedenfeld said.
Omnes’ Sara Harmon said Thursday’s events will help landscape designers better understand people's interests to make “sure our design fits with what the community wants.”
"The idea is that we’re getting feedback for what people want in the spaces that are blank right now," Harmon said.
Stedenfeld said she and her staff will use feedback from Thursday’s events to create two or three options to be voted on by Allentown residents and employees.
Not touching the ‘iconic’ monument
Jon Clark, owner of the RE:find furniture store at 645 W. Hamilton St., walked from his business to Thursday’s event near the Sailors and Soldiers monument.
Clark said he wanted to learn more about the project and said he’s excited to hear the city is “making the area a little bit more pedestrian-friendly.”
Clark said he thinks that will help his businesses and many others downtown.
Clark said he’s happy the project doesn’t include changes to the monument, which he called “such an iconic thing for Allentown.”
He said he often sees people racing across Hamilton Street to check out the monument, so “access to it would be really helpful.”
The project at 7th and Hamilton streets would be funded by the Allentown Neighborhood Improvement Zone’s Public Improvement Investment Program, officials said.
The special taxing district allows some Center City Allentown businesses to keep tens of millions of dollars in state and local taxes each year.
