How the nearly $2 million Pike Street traffic calming project boosts accessibility, safety
A project that has been talked about and worked on for decades in College Township is finally complete.
A tree planting and dedication ceremony for the Pike Street Traffic Calming and Streetscape Project was held on Friday. College township staff, elected officials and residents came out to celebrate the nearly $2 million project.
The project aimed to improve safety for pedestrians and motorists by slowing traffic through Lemont and incorporating other streetscape improvements, according to a press release. The project covered parts of Pike Street from Elmwood and Dale streets.
Carla Stilson, chair of the College Township Council, said the project has been in the works for a long time — at least 10 years, and it was talked about for at least another 20 years prior to that. The stakeholders involved with the project had many “competing interests,” but in the end, she was proud to see everyone come and work together to complete the project.
“This was actually a traffic calming project, not a streetscape project. And we were able to accomplish both with a little luck and a lot of staff time, public meetings, PennDOT cooperation, not to mention a nice grant in there,” she said, referring to a $1,149,041 PennDOT Multimodal Transportation Fund Grant in 2018.
Pike Street has been developed for over 100 years, Stilson said, and “trying to redevelop a completely built out 150-year-old street is not an easy task.” The biggest accomplishments of the project included better delineated parking, improved stormwater management, enhanced overall accessibility to local businesses and residences and improved safety for pedestrians and motorcyclists, Stilson said. A speed study that was recently conducted shows the traffic has slowed from an 80th percentile speed of 32 mph down to 25, she said.
Added parking along Pike Street allows for people to park in one place and walk around.
“Now you can park in one place and stroll and walk around downtown Lemont, which we’re hoping helps the businesses out and makes it a lot more of a community feel. Kids can walk downtown and, you know, grab a bite to eat at the cafe or go to the Art Alliance. It’s more open to the community and not just the vehicular traffic,” she said.
A resident who has been involved since the beginning of this project is Sue Smith, chair of the Lemont Village Association. She moved to Lemont in 1968 with two young kids. Her kids, she said, could never roller skate through Lemont and always had to go elsewhere to do that. So, she was pleased with the new sidewalks the project brought.
Although the project did involve cutting down some old trees, the Lemont Village Association and township were able to plant new, larger, native and diverse trees.
State Sen. Cris Dush, R-Brookville, and State House Representatives Kerry Benninghoff, R-Bellefonte, and Paul Takac, D-College Township, spoke about the project and participated in the ceremonial tree planting. Takac, a former College Township council member, said the tree is symbolic of the project.
“One of the things that Lemont is really blessed with is not only a great history and historical character, but really amazing residents who have been involved in every step of the way. And while sometimes you do have to cut down trees in order to move things forward and to modernize and to accommodate the growth of not only Lemont but the Centre Region, there’s a bright future,” Takac said.
Benninghoff applauded the project and said “it’s nice to see a community that’s making smart improvements while still preserving the old.”
