Road Ahead

Water Street in Whitehall Township where a man was struck and killed on Dec. 25 may be temporarily closed to address safety concerns, Mayor Joseph J. Marx Jr. said.

On this week's episode of Political Pulse, Tom Shortell and Chris Borick talk about local traffic development and how residents feel about traffic issues.

Local officials in places like Lowhill Township want more tools to help them control industrial development and traffic in their borders.

The work would begin near Liberty High School, traveling about a ¾-mile south to an intersection just north of Nisky Hill Cemetery.

Many interchanges on Route 22 and Route 309 are badly outdated, leaving drivers to navigate increasingly unsafe roads. PennDOT has plans to address several of them, including trouble spots in Fullerton and Center Valley.

Lehigh Valley lawmakers have continued to raise concerns about traffic safety in the area. On Tuesday, Sen. Jarrett Coleman announced that PennDOT would designate Route 22 a safety corridor, which should be a step toward traffic safety, a PennDOT representative said.

Bethlehem roadway improvements will include, but are not limited to, installation of curb bump outs and pedestrian refuge islands at certain intersections to reduce the crossing distance.

Bethlehem City Council on Dec. 17 unanimously approved the work, allocating $57,850 for local firm Traffic Planning and Design Inc. to complete the preliminary design measures sometime this year but before Dec. 31.

Angry and frustrated family and friends of the late Edward Tomcics packed the Whitehall Township Board of Commissioners meeting on Monday, imploring them to address the speeding epidemic on Water Street. Tomcics, 75, was struck and killed outside his home on Dec. 25. An investigation into the incident is underway.

PennDOT District 5 officials say there’s more than $240 million invested into road improvement projects in and around the Lehigh Valley entering 2025.