If you take a walk down Pike Street in Lemont, it appears to be your standard village downtown area.
And that’s exactly what it is … for now. But an upgrade to the street that’s four years in the works is finally gaining some momentum.
The College Township Council discussed the potential streetscape project at its Thursday night meeting. As it stands, the upgrade would change the street’s parking layout, implement traffic-slowing features, and make a more pedestrian-friendly environment with new sidewalks.
The streetscape project would cover the stretch of Pike Street from its intersection with Boalsburg Road — where Café Lemont is located — to Dale Street. The street is home to businesses including Mt. Nittany Outfitters, Dolce Vita Desserts, Gallery Shop, Kamrai Thai, and others.
The primary objective of the project, other than the basic need to maintain Pike Street, is what the council calls “traffic calming.” Council discussed the complaints of many Pike Street business owners, who take issue with cars racing down the stretch of road, creating a dangerous environment in an area that is heavily-trafficked by pedestrians.
“I was in Arlington a couple weeks ago in a neighborhood with a lot of shops,” council member Bill Sharp says. “They had speed bumps and I can guarantee you that would be the best solution to get traffic to slow down. The issue with that is that PennDOT owns this road.”
What Sharp means is that council would need PennDOT’s approval to make any changes to the street itself, such as the installation of speed bumps. The sidewalk renovations fall under council’s domain, but the street portion of the project requires close work with PennDOT.
Another potential traffic-slowing tool brought up in the council meeting is the use of bulb-outs, otherwise known as curb extensions or elephant ears. These typically exist at crosswalks, where the sidewalk literally “bulbs out” into the road. While there’s no physical tool to slow traffic like a speed bump, the visual thinning of the road has been shown to slow down traffic.
As the project has made its way through the design process, a number of public hearings have been held since 2012 in an effort to gauge public opinion. One of the most common suggestions from residents is the inclusion of bike lanes in any redesign of Pike Street.
“We don’t have bicycle lanes in this plan as it stands and I think that would be a big attraction if you could ride a bicycle through this neighborhood,” Sharp says.
But township manager Adam Brumbaugh had to be the bearer of bad news for bicyclists hoping to enjoy their own section of the roadway on Pike Street.
“It is virtually impossible to incorporate bike lanes because there’s not enough roadway to work with,” Brumbaugh says. “That has in fact been studied, and it’s the same reason that angled parking doesn’t work in this project. Those have been investigated. We’ve done that work and taken a look at them as they were both requested at the second open house.”
Because of the limitations on the street due to its size, the only feasible option for the project is the implementation of more parallel parking. As the design stands, Pike Street would see an increase in total parking spaces. Council is also exploring the option of a parking lot off of Cherry Alley, located just around the corner.
“One of the issues we need to look at is that we need to have a design that promotes and does not inhibit business,” Sharp says. “The amount of parking we have is important. We need to take a look at the Cherry Alley situation again in terms of parking.”
Council tasked township staff with a number of action items on the design, included the exploration of a stop sign on Dale Street where it intersects with Pike Street. The owner of Mayes Memorials also asked council to consider the possibility of the revamped parking situation affecting its loading/delivery zone.
The next step is to fine tune the design based on the comments from Thursday’s meeting, hashing out what type of traffic-calming tool will be used and working through other issues before presenting a new design and holding another open house to allow for public input.
Popular Stories:
Housing Development Protestors Confront Water Authority
Boalsburg Cemetery Still Recovering from Gravestone Vandalism, Repair Work Continues
Students Go Purple To Fight Epilepsy
Candlight Vigil ‘Shines a Light’ on Mental Health
Memorial Day Festival Promises Family Fun Under New Leadership
Penn State Athletics Announces Nittany Lion Fan Council
With Only #107 Days ’til Temple Opener, Penn State’s Players Are Also Coaches
‘We’ll Know When It’s Time’: Barbour Talks Honoring Paterno
Penn State Football: James Franklin Doesn’t Enjoy Recruiting ‘I Enjoy Winning’
Cornerback Da’Quan Davis No Longer With Penn State Program
Penn State Football: Reihner A Bonus For Growing Offensive Front
Penn State Basketball:Despite Combine Snub, Newbill Not Without Opportunity To Prove His Worth
