ALLENTOWN, Pa. – The price tag for a critical component of Allentown’s waterfront redevelopment project has swelled an additional $6 million.

During a meeting on Wednesday of the Lehigh Valley Transportation Study (LVTS) Technical and Coordinating Committees, it was announced that the Riverside Drive Multimodal Revitalization Corridor project is now expected to cost more than $27 million, up from a previous projection of about $21 million.

The project will complete Riverside Drive and the Delaware & Lehigh National Heritage Corridor gap between Allentown and Whitehall.

Specifically, Riverside Drive will be extended south from Hamilton Street to Union Street in the city of Allentown, and north from Furnace Street to E. Wood Street in Allentown and Whitehall Township.

Also, a gravel, multi-use trail will continue from E. Wood Street to Lehigh Avenue in Whitehall.

The project was awarded a $21 million federal Rebuilding American Infrastructure with Sustainability and Equity (RAISE) Grant in 2021. But, according to a letter sent to the two LVTS committees from the Lehigh Valley Planning Commission (or LVPC; the LVTS is the Metropolitan Planning Organization of the Lehigh Valley region), due to inflation and contract delays, additional funding is required to complete the project.

To help fill the $6 million gap, LVPC is working with Lehigh County to apply for a Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) Multimodal Transportation Fund grant.

The grant amount is $3 million; the remaining $3 million would come from PennDOT. 

There is a 30% local cost share requirement for the grant, but LVPC is requesting a waiver for the match in this case. 

On Wednesday, LVPC requested- and received- a recommendation from LVTS that its Executive Committee act on the preparation and coordination of the grant application, which has a deadline of Oct. 30.

The Riverside Drive project is advancing through the preliminary engineering phase. It’s seen as essential to the larger Allentown Waterfront project, a 29-acre mixed-use redevelopment taking shape on the western banks of the Lehigh River.