About three times as many drivers use the portion of Pike Street that cuts through Lemont each day as the population of the village itself.
That’s between 6,000 to 8,000 cars and trucks using the road that is lined with stores and local businesses on any given day.
“For many years, there have been concerns with traffic speed and volumes that go through the village,” says Adam Brumbaugh, the College Township manager.
After the Pike Street Traffic-Calming and Streetscape Project was first proposed more than three years ago to slow traffic and make downtown Lemont more pedestrian friendly in the process, College Township Council and staff are making more recent advances to gather public input and push the project forward.
As a part of this project, the township has considered crosswalks, bumped-out portions of the street, improved sidewalks and parallel parking along Pike Street.
On June 18 council awarded the civil engineering and consulting firm Trans Associates a project study where it will gather traffic counts and assess other traffic-related concerns along Pike Street. Brumbaugh says this “is a step toward pulling together a coordinated response to the project.”
Township staff has also recently discussed adding bulb outs at intersections, putting a traffic sign or signal at the intersection of Pike and Dale Street and restricting the weight of vehicles that can use the road.
In a May 21 council meeting, council suggested assuming control of Pike Street, which is currently a PennDOT-owned road. The road’s state status prevents the township from having sole control over decisions in regards to the road such as adding speed bumps or changing the current 25 mph speed limit.
PennDOT can turn back control of state roads to municipalities through a turn-back program, says Marla Fannin, a spokesperson for PennDOT.
The township will hold another public forum once the work that was requested ― including gathering traffic counts and evaluating the need for a streetlight or stop sign at Dale Street ― is completed.
Dick Stever, who owns Mayes Memorials, said there are still too many unanswered questions from the township regarding the project.
Some local business owners including Stever are concerned about the parallel parking along Pike Street that the township has included in some of its design sketches.
“How is anyone going to parallel park on Pike Street with all the traffic?” Stever says. “The project is supposed to be for street calming, but I think parallel parking would make the traffic worse.”
The parallel parking would coincide with curbs, sidewalks and an overall more defined street layout. Brumbaugh says a formal parking system would increase the street’s efficiency and provide more parking along the street.
But, Stever said he likes the way the parking is now.
“That’s one of the unique things about Lemont: You can pull right in front of my store and park in any direction you want,” he says about the pull off area in front of his store that the township does not currently manage.
He is worried that adding parallel parking would make it more difficult for customers to come to his business. From a safety standpoint, he is also worried about the narrowing of the street that will occur if parallel parking is added.
The township has considered working with store owners to restrict some parking. But the project is still in its input phase, and the township has made no final decisions.
