BETHLEHEM, Pa. — From Pennsylvania Avenue to Elm Street, commuters should notice changes along the route over the next few years — whether that’s by car, bike or foot.
Bethlehem City Council on Tuesday unanimously approved local firm Traffic Planning and Design Inc. to handle design, permitting and construction-oversight services for roadway safety upgrades.
“This project will create a safer and improved environment for all road users,” city Public Works Director Michael Alkhal wrote in a request for approval addressed to City Council.
The request said 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.
Also, installation of a tree-lined curbed median where feasible/appropriate, construction of ADA ramps, upgrades and crosswalks and introduction of separate safe bike lanes.
“This project will create a safer and improved environment for all road users."Bethlehem Public Works Director Michael Alkhal, in a request for approval to City Council
The first phases of the improvements along the West Bethlehem part should be completed this year, officials have said.
The project contract is valued at $977,318, with a completion deadline in five years.
Pennsylvania Avenue branches off of Catasauqua Road below U.S. Route 22, running southeast about a mile-and-a-half to West Broad Street.
From there, the route continues eastward for 2.5 miles, crossing West Bethlehem and downtown, heading about another mile before connecting with Elm Street, near the city YMCA.
Bethlehem Area School District has a handful of schools that serve families in walkable neighborhoods along the route — a few of those include Clearview Elementary, Calypso Elementary and Nitschmann Middle.
Improvements en route
The work represents one step in a broader process, as the city makes use of nearly $10 million in federal funding to spruce up safety along the West Broad Street corridor.
The money from the U.S Department of Transportation Safe Streets and Roads for All grant is funded through the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.
There’s $1 million more for improvements at the last half-mile from Center Street to Elm.
City officials have said all the various safety upgrades complement Bethlehem’s Vision Zero plan. It aims to eliminate deaths and severe injuries related to traffic by the end of the decade.
TPD consulted the city in the completion of the Broad Street Activation Plan, which “provides a long-term planning blueprint for safely accommodating all users of Broad Street in the City of Bethlehem, Lehigh and Northampton counties.”
The firm also recently was brought on to complete preliminary design measures for traffic signal upgrades at the intersections at Pennsylvania Avenue, Union Boulevard and Eaton Avenue.
