Individuals Concerned for Newtown Square

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CONCLUSIONS

The intersection of West Chester Pike (PA Route 3) and Newtown Street Road (PA Route 252), as well as the surrounding area, currently experiences high traffic volumes, and increasing development pressure, which will add more traffic, despite limited roadway capacity. The Newtown Township Comprehensive Plan has identified potential existing and proposed corridors to allow traffic to circumvent the intersection of these state routes and relieve the traffic congestion. Although the current landscape is largely developed with residential and commercial uses, densely filling several quadrants of the subject intersection, there is the potential to provide new alternative routes with cooperation from property owners and future developers.

Newtown Township has undertaken this traffic study to develop alternatives to relieve existing and anticipated congestion with new roadway improvements and to create opportunities for future traffic congestion relief. The goal of this study is to identify viable traffic improvement alternatives for the Newtown Square area that best manage the existing and future anticipated traffic volumes. Existing traffic deficiencies, additional future traffic due to projected development, and limited right-of-way and other constraints throughout the area must all be considered in developing an effective transportation improvement program. As a result, there is no single solution to address the existing and future transportation needs of the area, but rather, the Township must consider a system of phased improvements to be implemented over a period of time. Furthermore, because this area is not surrounded by vacant, available land, but rather it is a densely developed area with numerous constraints, it will be necessary to balance the need for traffic improvements to achieve acceptable operations with the limiting constraints that impact the ability to implement improvements as complete solutions to the traffic deficiencies.

It is clear that the intersection of West Chester Pike (PA Route 3) and Newtown Street Road (PA Route 252) is central to the local area traffic issues. As a way for setting the stage to better understand the need for traffic improvements at this intersection, it is helpful to provide a real-world example of a similar intersection. The intersection of Pottstown Pike (PA Route 100) and Lincoln Highway (U.S. Business Route 30) in West Whiteland Township, Chester County serves as a comparable intersection of two state route, high-volume arterial roadways in the region. By comparison, the intersection of West Chester Pike (PA Route 3)/Newtown Street Road (PA Route 252) carries more traffic today than Pottstown Pike (PA Route 100)/Lincoln Highway (U.S. Business Route 30); however, major capacity improvements have been completed at Pottstown Pike (PA Route 100)/Lincoln Highway (U.S. Business Route 30). Based on the future traffic projections contained within this study, the future traffic volumes at the intersection of West Chester Pike (PA Route 3)/Newtown Street Road (PA Route 252) will continue to increase and further exceed the type of traffic volumes currently experienced at Pottstown Pike (PA Route 100)/LincoIn Highway (U.S. Business Route 30). Therefore, at the intersection of West Chester Pike (PA Route 3) and Newtown Street Road (PA Route 252), if the same lane geometry were implemented as currently exists at Pottstown Pike (PA Route 100)/Lincoln Highway (U.S. Business Route 30), the intersection would be greatly improved, but it would continue to operate with some delay since the traffic volumes are, and will continue to be, higher.

Based on the detailed evaluation of the improvements needed in the study area, the following improvements are required in the existing conditions, or in the near future, in order to better manage the traffic demands:

• Widen West Chester Pike (PA Route 3) to provide three through lanes in each direction.
• Major turning lane improvements at the intersection of West Chester Pike (PA Route
3)/Newtown Street Road (PA Route 252), which may present challenges obtaining right-
of-way, OR eliminate left-turn movements at the intersection and divert traffic to alternate
routes.
• If left-turn movements are eliminated at the intersection of West Chester Pike (PA Route
3)/Newtown Street Road (PA Route 252), modifications are needed at the Winding Way
intersections to accommodate the diverted turning movements.
• Extend the two through lanes northbound and southbound along Newtown Street Road
(PA Route 252) south of West Chester Pike (PA Route 3).
• Construction of a loop road on the southeast corner of West Chester Pike (PA Route
3)/Newtown Street Road (PA Route 252) in order to accommodate the diverted turning
movements, which may present challenges obtaining property and right-of-way.
• Relocation/elimination of the Clyde Lane /West Chester Pike (PA Route 3) intersection.
• Other surrounding intersection improvements are needed to achieve improved levels of
service.

Based on the detailed capacity/level-of-service evaluation of the improvements needed in the study area, the following improvements should be considered as long-term solutions to better manage the traffic demands further into the future:

• Construction of a loop road on the southwest corner of West Chester Pike (PA Route
3)/Newtown Street Road (PA Route 252) in order to accommodate the diverted turning
movements from this intersection, as well as the westbound left-turn movement at West
Chester Pike (PA Route 3)/Bishop Hollow Road, which will present challenges obtaining
property and right-of-way due to the dense residential development along Bishop Hollow
Road.
• It may be necessary to widen Newtown Street Road (PA Route 252) to provide three
through lanes in each direction.