FAQs Archive - Page 6 of 24 - U.S. 1 Improvements Project

You said there were many fatal accidents in the area of the service roads of the limited access highways. When that occurs, you have the access road to keep traffic moving, albeit at a slow pace, to get around the crash. Under the current plans, all that traffic will be forced onto small side roads. That will be very dangerous for residents and inconvenient for motorists. And your one second delay, which I find unbelievable, goes way out the window.

So we’re not talking many fatalities. There are quite a few crashes out there. When a crash occurs along Route 1, there is no room for maneuverability on the main line; so, it automatically incurs a roadway closure of at least a lane, possibly two lanes and that diverts traffic onto the frontage road. At that point you do get cut through traffic of people trying to get around the service roads, going out through the neighborhoods in that case.

The roadway will be wider, so you’ll have two travel lanes on mainline Route 1 in each direction. You’ll have five foot inside shoulders and 12-14 foot outside shoulders. That makes it easier to actually move traffic around an accident or even get traffic or disabled vehicles off the roadway onto the shoulder to maneuver around the crash site.

So why can’t there be a traffic light at the corner of the church and library on Pine Street? The flashing signal will not slow down traffic.

We have looked at this intersection and to install a traffic signal the intersection needs to meet warrants. It does not meet these requirements, so PennDOT is not allowed to install one.

I believe you said you studied traffic in 2021 and again in 2024. I do not believe traffic has returned yet to pre-pandemic levels. People are still just going back to the office. Shouldn’t there be another study?

One of the reasons we recounted in 2024 is to assess the traffic after the pandemic was over. It should be noted that we are applying a growth rate that is provided by DVRPC, so they do model projected growth. So, we do try to account for increases in traffic in that way.

How does this effect our very valuable AME historic church, which is an essential part of the history of our borough?

We have had direct contact with the church and have their input regarding their needs. As currently designed, there is no impact to the AME church. We discussed the traffic increase on 413 is minimal and is just shifting traffic. We are currently working with the borough with regards to pedestrian access and traffic calming in the area of the AME church. The goal is to slow traffic and make it safer for pedestrians in that area and the adjacent library area too.

I understand elected officials have said this is a done deal. Is the elimination of the service roads and addition of roundabouts still in the consideration phase? In other words, is it possible after studies and public comment that this may not come to fruition as currently presented?

The short answer is yes, we are still in the environmental study phase and going through the environmental assessment process. This may cause us to reevaluate our plan if the environmental assessment dictates the direction we take. If there is a finding of no significant impact then we move to the final design. However, if there is a finding of significant impact then it could be reverted into an environmental impact statement and additional analysis would have to occur through the environmental impact process before continuing on beyond that.

After this meeting, will only the recording be posted or can you also post the transcript of the recording?

We are working on transcribing the Q & A part of the meeting. The video is posted on the PennDOT website. Link: Spring 2025 Virtual Public Meeting – U.S. 1 Improvements Project.

The Penndel train tracks can cause traffic to back up Bellevue Ave pretty far especially when there is a freight train and back to back Amtrak trains. With the loss of exits along Rt 1 and all people exiting at Pine Street this will likely increase this log jam and force more traffic into the Manor to get to the Hulmeville Ave Bridge. Are you studying this traffic increase towards the tracks and the potential increase of traffic in this neighborhood which is relatively quiet?

We do not typically include railroad blockages in our traffic analysis. We usually just assess the conditions during the AM and PM peak hours. Additionally, 413 southbound should have no traffic increase, so the project should have no effect on its current condition.

So will the updated traffic studies be made available to Langhorne’s traffic engineer before final design is undertaken?

That will be a part of the project technical file with the Environmental Assessment document and that will occur before final design.

Since Frank Farry is no longer a state representative, has this been reapproached to the new rep?

Yes, there have been meetings with public officials recently and Last fall (2024) we met in person with Senator Farry and Representative Hogan at Senator Farry’s office with Langhorne Borough officials at the same time. Representative Hogan has had staff on several recent public officials calls, too. So Representative Hogan is aware of the project and we always keep Senator Farry involved in all our correspondence with Municipalities.

Langhorne Borough consulted with the Bicycle Coalition and their opinion was that the signals and cloverleaf would hinder bicycle traffic along what is considered (supposed to be) a major North-South bicycle spine in Bucks County. The cloverleafs are NOT considered bicycle friendly by local bicyclists either.

We did consult with the bicycle and pedestrian master plan for Bucks County and at the same time we did reach out to the bicycle coalition. They have not responded back to numerous attempts to reach out to them for their feedback.