The
Market Street Bridge
could look quite different in a few years if PennDOT follows its latest proposal.
City officials, at the request of PennDOT, held a public meeting this week attended by officials from the Tri-County Regional Planning Commission to get public comments on a proposal to remove one lane, resulting in a three-lane cross section for the bridge.
The planning commission was representing PennDOT, which was not in attendance.
An original plan kept all four lanes, but the newest proposal would eliminate one lane of traffic on both the bridge from Harrisburg to City Island and the bridge from City Island to the west shore.
City officials submitted comment at the meeting that Harrisburg does not support this proposed design because it would negatively impact activities on City Island, including access to the renovated Harrisburg Senators’ stadium.
3-Lane PI Material
by
PennLive
Joel Seiders, the city’s engineer, said the proposal could increase safety.
“The three-lane concept stems from a traffic study that shows 4 lanes are unnecessary for the amount of traffic volume on the bridge and could potentially increase safety across the bridge,” Seiders wrote. “The same concept would also tie in nicely with PennDOT’s
Lemoyne Bottleneck improvements
and a potential 2-way conversion of Market Street from Front Street to Cameron Street.”
Seiders confirmed all the
Market Street bridge
proposals are preliminary and can be altered or changed entirely based on community feedback. Comments from the recent meeting were “mixed” according to Seiders, as “more (community members) [are] leaning towards keeping the current four-lane configuration.”
However, Pharon Bertsch, PennDOT’s senior project manager, told PennLive this would be the final time the public’s comments would be taken into consideration regarding the project.
“We’ve had public involvement in 2021, 2022, 2023, prior to this meeting,” Berstch said. “This last one was just to get feedback on the three-lane proposal.”
Still, the public’s opinion plays a role in the final decision for changes to the bridge.
PennDOT is working on a comprehensive rehabilitation of the Market Street Bridge, which is estimated to take approximately seven to eight years to complete, so central Pennsylvania might not see these changes completed until after 2030.
During the years of construction, traffic could be significantly impacted as construction could reduce additional lanes.
As
previously reported
, PennDOT also intends to build a utility bridge on the south side of the Market Street Bridge, which will include a 14-foot-wide path for pedestrians and bicycles.
According to PennDOT, the utility bridge will be constructed downstream of the existing bridges. The separate bridge will carry the utilities that are currently under the sidewalk on the bridges.
PennDOT stated that the bridge can be constructed without requiring long-term traffic control, which will reduce the project’s duration because utilities will not need to be temporarily relocated. It will also be safer for bicycle riders and pedestrians.
The major project is currently in its design stage. More information on PennDOT’s plans can be
viewed here
.
Editor’s Note:
This article was updated at 10 p.m. July 18 to add the city’s input and clarify the city hosted the event at PennDOT’s request.
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