ALLENTOWN, Pa. — Despite Bethlehem Township putting a pause on plans for a five-story, nearly 308,000-square-foot expansion at St. Luke’s Hospital’s Anderson Campus, a Lehigh Valley Planning Commission committee showed less concern in a review Tuesday.
The planning commission's Comprehensive Planning Committee agreed with a “Traffic Narrative” for the project that says the project will minimally add to the overall traffic impacts from the hospital campus.
But the committee recommended new traffic counts be conducted as the Anderson campus develops.
- St. Luke's Hospital's Anderson campus expansion project was reviewed by the Lehigh Valley Planning Commission's Comprehensive Planning Committee on Tuesday
- A five-story, 146-bed, nearly 308,000-square-foot expansion is planned
- On Monday, Bethlehem Township Planning Commission paused the expansion plan for further review
The expansion project would include adding 146 beds and a more than 32,000-square-foot Sterile Processing Infill Development at 1872 Riverside Circle, at Route 33 and Interstate-78.
The Anderson campus expansion would increase the hospital’s bed total to 311.
A statement from the hospital said the proposal is part of St. Luke's long-term plan.
Traffic concerns
Residents at the Bethlehem Township Planning Commission meeting on Monday expressed concerns about potential traffic problems from not only the hospital expansion but also a proposed 866,000-square-foot warehouse in Bethlehem Township and Freemansburg.
However, LVPC agrees with the submitted “Traffic Narrative” that states the impacts of the sterile processing infill will be minimal to the overall traffic impacts from the hospital campus.
As the campus builds out, new traffic impact data will assess the ability for the hospital campus to be served with a safe and efficient transportation network surrounding the project.Lehigh Valley Planning Commission committee recommendation
Sterile processing infill refers to the process that is used to clean, sterilize, prepare and store all medical and surgical supplies and equipment for patient care.
The LVPC recommends that as the Anderson campus develops, new traffic counts be conducted to confirm the existing, actual impacts of the current year rather than the 2017 data provided under the current Transportation Impact Study.
As the campus builds out, new traffic impact data will assess the ability for the hospital campus to be served with a safe and efficient transportation network surrounding the project, especially as the corridor redevelops along Freemansburg Avenue to areas to the west, the LVPC said.
Other recommendations
The planning commission also recommended that additional proposed parking lots be constructed with infrastructure to support and integrate electric vehicle charging on site.
Convenient charging stations may encourage more employees and even patients who may travel long distances to use electric vehicles and contribute to improvements of the air quality in the Lehigh Valley, the committee said.
Also recommended was installing bicycle racks on the hospital campus.
St. Luke's is a non-profit regional network with 14 campuses and more than 300 sites in Lehigh, Northampton, Carbon, Schuylkill, Bucks, Montgomery, Berks, Monroe and Luzerne counties. It also serves Warren and Hunterdon counties in New Jersey.
The LVPC will address the reviews of the St. Luke’s expansion project at a full meeting at 7 p.m. Thursday.
