TPD has provided comprehensive transportation engineering services for this ongoing multi-phase project to improve Route 29. The project is associated with the build out of the 2.5 million square foot Atwater Business Park and also in conjunction with the PA Turnpike Slip Ramp interchange project in this same area. TPD has designed roadway improvements to be constructed in three distinct phases with the first phase being completed as a Highway Occupancy Permit design using private funding for design and construction. The second and third phases (S.R. 0029 Section AL1 and AL2) were both constructed as “local lead” projects with Trammel Crow and the PA Turnpike Commission funding pre-construction activities and PennDOT funding construction activities.
S.R. 0029, Section AL1 involved widening along Route 29 within East Whiteland Township from two to four travel lanes between Great Valley Parkway and Yellow Springs Road. This project also involved related intersection and signalization improvements and a retaining wall on the eastern side of Route 29 and an engineered slope on the western side, both designed to avoid costly utility relocations.
S.R. 29 Section AL2 involved widening along Route 29 within Charlestown Township from two to four travel lanes between Yellow Springs Road to approximately 1,000 feet north of Phoenixville Pike. The project also involved widening along Charlestown Road and Yellow Springs Road along with related intersection and signalization improvements. The project involved significant coordination with local stakeholders in terms of pedestrian accommodations, bicycle accessibility, stormwater management features, and compatibility with future projects. The project also involves significant utility coordination and right-of-way acquisition.
The projects were particularly noteworthy due to several key factors. The projects are located within the Valley Creek and Pickering Creek watersheds. The Valley Creek Watershed is considered exceptional value, which in turn requires significant coordination and mitigation design efforts. The project is also located along a key traffic corridor which services vehicles travelling to and from the corporate centers along Route 29 as well as vehicles travelling to and from Route 202 and the PA Turnpike. As such, the traffic control staging needed to be developed to have minimal disturbance to traffic patterns. Finally, Route 29 serves as a major utility corridor for electric, telephone, gas, water and fiber optic communications which all service the corporate centers to the south. Every effort was made to minimize disturbances to these nearby stakeholders.
